Seishin to ningen no ryōhō
by Selena Estella
Summary: For a child of both human and spirit, there are many dangers, and their parent will do anything to protect them...  Oh, and if I owned Spirited Away, then there would DEFINITELY be a sequel by now.
1. Chapter 1

So here it is, friends! My seconds attempt at writing a chapter story! This time, I have pre-written all the chapters ('all' as in 'three') to ensure that there isn't any disappointment. There may or may not be a sequel, but please don't waste your effort in pressuring me to write more, 'cause if I write anything else, it'll be because I want to. Now please enjoy!

* * *

The world was smothered by a thick grey blanket. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled. All across Japan, no, all across the _world_, there had been floods, tsunamis, typhoons, storms, and just the steady downpour of rain. The Sahara Desert shouldn't be expecting it's annual rainfall in another eight months or so, and yet it was flooding. Rivers burst their banks and oceans invaded the land, hurricanes ripped at the cities, hail and even snow storms were unseasonably tearing across the face of Japan.

Yuuko Ogino, who sat huddled in her little home, could make neither head no tale of it. She was trying to watch the weather forecast, but the connection was playing up and anyway, the weather as about as unpredictable as it was soothing.

Yuuko jumped as another peal of thunder sounded from outside. This weather was... _unnatural_. If she had been a superstitious sort of person, then she would have believed that something might be... _happening._ Something strange. There were certainly many people who _did_ believe that something was going on. From the guy who worked at the till of the local corner shop to priests and priestesses at the local temple, there was a whole collection of people who seemed to be... _expecting _something.

Lightning flashed and thunder clashed. Just how Akio could be sleeping in this weather was a complete mystery to Yuuko. She had been utterly unable to sleep that night, what with the noise going on, so she had come down to the sitting room to watch (well, _attempt_ to watch) the late night weather forecast. She at least hoped that Chihiro was sleeping well...

...Oh...

It was strange how she still did that. It had been years since Chihiro had disappeared, but Yuuko could still sometimes manage to think that her daughter was still in the house. She would make an extra meal, buy extra food, even lookup to say something to her daughter, only to remember with a pang that Chihiro was gone. The police had long since stopped searching, and she had been presumed dead. Case closed.

Then the doorbell rang. Again. It was the fifth time that day. Yuuko nervously eyed the pile of 'gifts' that lay strewn across the coffee table. Most were nice things, like scented candles and rare herbs. One was even a glorious blue-and-green kimono that was obviously very expensive. Others, however, were a bit… well, _odd_. Strange stones, and packets of things that had no label, and even a small pouch of what looked and smelled suspiciously like powdered bone. Yes. They were odd. As had been the people who delivered them. Some had been more than a little intimidating, dressed in the rich fabrics of the most expensive kimonos. Others had been more plainly dressed, but in a way they were even worse, for they each wore a strange mask, depicting an animal of some sort.

Nevertheless, as the doorbell rang again, Yuuko got up and went answer it. Cautiously she opened the door, afraid of the rain but also afraid of the visitor. What she saw came as a surprise. The person outside was small, and looked about fourteen. She wore a simple kimono, pretty yet sensible, of earthy-red and woodsy-brown. Her hair was deep brown and cropped to about cheek level, where it curved outwards in little spikes, giving her thin face an innocent, though slightly elfin, look. Her strange eyes, green flecked with brown, started calculatingly up into Yuuko's. Then she smiled stunningly.

'Greetings, Mrs Ogino-sama,' the girl said, bowing low. Like all the others, she knew Yuuko's name without being told. 'I have come to give my respects and to congratulate you. I am sure you must be very proud.' The girl held out a small basket, filled with what seemed to be flowers and herbs. Yuuko felt slightly flustered. Many had said much the same thing, if they even spoke at all. Seeing Yuuko's discomfort, the smile on the girl's face widened and her eyes twinkled.

'I-I'm afraid I don't know what you mean,' Yuuko stuttered, feeling her face flush slightly.

'Really? Has nobody told you? Oh, you poor thing! You must forgive us, Mrs Ogino-sama, for intruding upon you like this, but we merely wanted to pay you our respects and give congratulations.'

'Yes, but congratulations about _what?_' Yuuko asked, slightly exasperated. It all vanished, however, at the girls next words.

'Your daughter, Mrs Ogino-sama,' she said. Yuuko froze. Chihiro had vanished about two years ago now, and all attempts at finding her had been useless. It was as if she had simply vanished of the face of the earth.

'W-what do you know of Chihiro?' Yuuko whispered. She knew she must have gone pale and she gripped the door frame tightly. 'I-s she ok? Has something happened to her…?'

'There is no need to sound so worried, Mrs Ogino-sama,' the girl laughed. 'She is quite well. Better than well, in fact, now that she is giving birth to the child of a God.' Yuuko felt herself go completely white. She thought she was going to faint.

'Giving birth to a… to the child of… of a _God_…?' her voice was less than a whisper. Yuuko looked down at the girl, who stared passively back. 'I think you'd better come inside,' she whispered hoarsely.

OXOXO

'I just don't get it!' Akio Ogino stormed, pacing up and down the living room. The girl, who had said her name was Saki Moriko, was calming sitting in an armchair, sipping hot chocolate. Yuuko stood to one side, feeling rather helpless, as her husband raged. 'Chihiro would never just run off like that! And with a _God?_ HA!' Akio turned to glare at Saki, face nearly purple with rage, and pointed an accusing finger at her. 'She's been kidnapped, hasn't she? And no doubt the bastard who did it has raped her and forced her to bare his spawn!'

'No,' Saki said calmly, putting down her hot chocolate and looking Akio calmly in the eyes. 'Allow me to explain: fifteen years ago the God in question saved her life when she fell in his river. The river, however, was soon after destroyed, and so he fled to the Spirit World. For five years he remained there until you, your wife, and your daughter stumbled through the tunnel. Whilst you two were enchanted, she remained human, and managed to stay there until she could free you. She fell in love with the God and saved his life. She then freed you two and departed from that world. Unable to cross over since the demise of his river, the God sent messages over to this world via his sister, Izumi. Your daughter made frequent visits, and then made the very difficult choice of leaving this world to join him. It has been two years here, but four and half there. The decision to bare his child was entirely her choice. Indeed,' Saki's lips curved into an amused smile. 'I believe he argued rather firmly against it for quiet some time.' Akio didn't quiet seem to know what to make of this. Saki turned to look out of the window. 'This storm grows old,' she murmured softly. She picked up her hot chocolate and finished it off. 'Tomorrow morning, I think,' she said, even more quietly.

* * *

The first chapter! Incidentally, the reason I have used both honorifics (Mr/s and sama) is so that there isn't any confusion between who's being spoken to.

Oh, and Saki means 'blossom' in Japanese :) just thought you'd like to know. I usually choose my character's names for a reason.


	2. Chapter 2

Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi paced up and down the room. He went over to a table, picked up a book, flicked through a couple of pages, then tossed it back down again, resuming his pacing. Gods, the waiting was killing him. How long had it been now? An hour? A day? A month? A year? Ten years? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand…?

It felt as if a dozen eternities had stretched by since, what, yesterday…? Or was it longer? Kohaku could've sworn the clock had stopped, had it not been for the rhythmic ticking of the second hand, constantly reminding him of the time going by.

Kohaku strained his ears, but not a sound could be heard of outside that room. He supposed he should be grateful of the sound-proofing charm, though the silence was deafening. He couldn't even hear the sound of the rain that lashed against the window. Kohaku gave a bitter laugh. Rain and snow all across both worlds from pole to pole. Instead of the usual heat wave, Japan was flooding. Such weather could only be announcing the arrival of a very special child…

He began to pace again, trying to calm himself down. Everything would be fine. Izumi would take good care of Chihiro, she being a healer _and_ his sister. He could trust her with his life, and had, quiet a few times.

Kohaku just wished a few of his other relatives could be so accepting.

Nearly all had been thoroughly disgusted at his choice for a mate. To be in love with a human girl who wasn't even a priestess had been seen as a sort of crime against nature. And perhaps it was. That didn't mean he cared, however. It also didn't mean that he and his mate hadn't been showered with gifts over the past few months. It had been really getting on both of theirs nerves, so Kohaku was glad that the weather had put a stop to at least _some_ of the visitors.

The young God's eyes roved over the assortment of gifts that were strewn around the room. They were stacked on tables, piled on shelves and basically stuffed into whatever space was available. Probably most of them were what you would call suitable for a child—clothes, toys, blankets, etc—but others certainly were not. Kohaku's eyes rested on the tiny, elaborately made, razor-sharp _dagger_ that a kitsune had given him a few days ago.

'For protection,' the spirit had said, in response to Kohaku's incredulous expression as he took the weapon. 'Teach him how to use it, and the child shall always be safe.'

Kohaku had not bothered to ask what his child would need to be safe _from_. No doubt there would be many things seeking to harm or take advantage of a demi-god, but _still…_

There had also been an almost insane number of protective charms. The only reason Kohaku had kept them all was because Chihiro insisted that it would be rude not to and anyway, they 'looked pretty', according her. There were some things about humans he supposed he would never understand. And the desire to have children was another of them.

Ah…

Back to _that_ again.

Kohaku ran a hand through his already ruffled hair, and glanced back up at the clock. He couldn't tell how much time had gone by, though, because he hadn't noted the time the last time he had looked. All he knew was that it was exactly midnight.

And that the rain had stopped.

He ran over to the window and gripped the sill hard as the moon revealed her pale face and shone silver light into the room. Kohaku's breathing sped and his heart began to beat faster. He saw the pale face of his reflection, nearly as white as the moon, and began to feel light-headed.

'Oh, kami,' he whispered softly.

Then the door opened.

Kohaku wheeled around quickly and saw Izumi standing in the doorway. Her usually neat, tightly coiled black hair was messy, and her face was pale. She looked at though she'd been up all night. Which she had. But her ruby lips were pulled into a beautiful smile and there was joy shining in her sapphire eyes.

'You can come in now,' she said softly.

The walk to the door seemed to take forever. Izumi smiled encouragingly, but Kohaku barely registered it. His mind was too focused on the view through the door.

Chihiro lay in the bed, propped up be white pillows and white blankets tucked smoothly around her. Her brown hair was damp with sweat and tangled around her head. Her skin was clammy and there were dark circles beneath her eyes.

But she was smiling.

Kohaku could still smell the blood and pain beneath the light incense that burned in one corner, but he was far two distracted by Chihiro and the two bundles she held in her—

Wait a second…

_Two?_

Kohaku gulped. His knees shook. And he nearly, _very nearly_, fainted on the spot.

But he didn't. Not quite.

'Haku, I think you should sit down,' Chihiro said, tired but amused. Kohaku nodded and felt his way blindly over to a chair next to the bed. He sank into the chair, not sure if what he was seeing could be real. Hesitantly, her reached out a trembling hand and gently stroked the head of the one nearest to him, the one with fine black hair and wrapped in a light blue blanket. Small eyelids opened, revealing a pair of perfect olive green eyes.

'He's your son,' Chihiro said softly. Kohaku blinked.

'My… son…?' the words sounded so strange coming from his mouth. His eyes flicked to the other small bundle in his mate's arms. This one was wrapped in soft pink, and had browner hair. Chestnut eyes regarded him unblinkingly. 'My… daughter…?' his vision blurred as tears of joy filled his eyes. Chihiro's eyes too were shining with tears as she smiled up at him.

Kohaku reached out and stroked Chihiro's cheek.

'My… _family_,' he murmured softly.


	3. Chapter 3

'_Outrageous!_' The quiet hum of voices that had at first dominated the silence was ripped apart by the furious outburst. A deathly quiet filled the vast meeting hall as the man strode into view. Katashi Itami's face was a deep red with rage. His hands were balled into fists. His very_ presence_ in the room made you want to cower in your seat. '_Horrific! Terrible! Sinful!_' he continued, black-and-red robes billowing around him, red-black hair flying around his face. Everyone in the room trembled at the fire god's rage.

Well, everyone apart from one man. He sat tall, with an amused smile on his face that did not quite reach his icy-blue eyes.

'What is all this about then, Katashi-san?' he asked pleasantly. 'Care to elaborate on what has made you react so… _strongly_…?' Katashi turned slowly towards the water god, and jabbed a finger in his direction.

'I'll tell you what, _Takeshi-dono_, has made me react this way, and it is that a_ water god_, named _Kohaku Nushi_, has produced offspring with a _mortal female!_' There was a long silence. However, Takeshi's smile only grew wider. He tucked a strand of his long, green-black hair behind his ear.

'Really?' he asked placidly. 'Is that all?'

'_All?_' Katashi shrieked, flames rippling across his robes and hair. Seemingly too angry to say more, the god stamped his foot into the floor, causing the black-and-white tiles to crack and spilt under the force. Everyone in the room winced and gasped, ducking down in their chairs. Everyone, however, except Takeshi.

'Honestly, Katashi-san,' he chuckled playfully. 'The crime cannot be so bad! Surely the children of a human and god can only be a blessing on the worlds? A sign of the bond we share with our subjects…?' Katashi continued to glare, and Takeshi's smile faded slightly. 'We will see how things progress. I think that I will pay a visit to the 'happy family' sometime in the near future, for after all…' the crafty smile spread across his face again. 'Should a man not be able to get to know his grandchildren…?'

OXOXO

Steam rose off the leaves of the trees in great billowing clouds as the sun reasserted her roll over Japan. All across the world, floods were retreating, storms dying down, and skies beginning to be freed of the heavy clouds that had invaded them. Saki Shinrin was perched upon a fallen tree trunk, balancing on her bare toes to avoid getting her kimono wet. She was waiting for somebody who she knew was going to be late, but had to talk to anyway.

Suddenly she felt a presence behind her, but did not turn around; it wasn't him. As the person walked into her range of vision, her suspicions were confirmed—it was Izumi.

'Good morning, Izumi-sama,' Saki said, politely bowing her head. Izumi nodded in reply and smiled. 'Forgive me, but may I ask as to why you are here? I did not invite you.'

'Pardon me, Saki-sama, but I thought that maybe it was for the best.

'He is fire. You are water. How could this possibly be—'

'Excuse me.' A new voice. Saki hadn't noticed his arrival. Masaru stepped out from behind a tree. He did not look happy. His red-and-black kimono was soggy with water around the hem and there were droplets of water in his short red-black hair. He looked between the two females. 'Sorry, am I interrupting something…?'

'Ah! No! Excuse us, Masaru-sama!' Saki gabbled. Izumi's lips thinned, but she said nothing.

'Then perhaps we could continue with the meeting? Because I have better things to be doing.'

'Such as…?' Izumi replied coolly. 'I can think of little that _you_, an immature fire god, would have to do.' Masaru scowled, and Izumi stared haughtily back. Saki sighed.

'Do you two_ have _to go through all this every time you meet?' She asked, exasperated.

'Yes!' Masaru and Izumi said together.

'Well, can't you just leave it for later, then? Masaru-sama, I believe you had something to discuss with me?'

'Yes, Saki-san,' he replied. 'It is a very serious issue that I think you would like to know about: it is that a child had been born from both human and spirit origins.' There was a moment's silence, and then Saki replied,

'I knew that.' Masaru blinked.

'You did?'

'Yes, she did,' Izumi said smugly. 'And there's something else neither of you know: it's not one child, but two.' Saki and Masaru stared at her. Izumi giggled lightly.

'How-how do you know that?' Masaru stammered.

'Because their father is my brother,' Izumi replied proudly. Jaws dropped. 'And, I also helped deliver the two.' She chuckled lightly. 'I can tell you truthfully that none of us were expecting twins!' She laughed lightly again. However, her good mood was not catching on. Saki was openly staring at her and Masaru's face was starting to flush red.

'You _what?_' he hissed, voice dangerously soft. Izumi's smile dropped off her face and she tossed her head angrily.

'I see nothing wrong in aiding my sister-in-law.'

'_Sister-in-law?_' Masaru roared. Saki flinched, and was thankful that fire god seemed to have forgotten she was there. Steam rose off his robes and he glared at Izumi. 'YOU SHOULD NOT COUNT IT AS A RELATION! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEVERED ALL CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR BROTHER AS SOON AS YOU DISCOVERED WHAT HE HAD DONE! YOU SHOULD HAVE-!'

'WHAT IS IT TO YOU WHAT I HAVE OR HAVE NOT DONE?' Izumi screamed back. There was a shocked silence. Izumi _never_ lost her temper. 'I mean,' she said a little more quietly, 'if I am against my brother, then who else is there to stand with him him?'

'Oh, I don't know,' Masaru snapped. 'Your _father_, perchance?'

'My father- my father doesn't want anything to do with Kohaku anymore!'

'That's not what he said at the meeting!' Masaru sneered. Izumi looked at him sharply.

'Then what did he say?'

'Not telling.'

'I'm telling you to tell me what he said!' Izumi took a step towards Masaru and actually raised a fist. 'Tell me what he said!' She sounded panicked. Masaru licked his lips nervously and swallowed his pride.

'He said-or at least, my father said he said... that he was going to 'visit' them, and that he should get to know them-'

'_When?_' Izumi hissed. '_When_ did he say he was going to 'visit' them?'

'I-I dunno!' Masaru yelped, alarmed by Izumi's anger and urgency. 'He just said he was gonna do it soon!' Izumi paled visibly. There was true fear in her eyes. 'Now just wait a sec-' Masaru was too late. Izumi had vanished.


	4. Chapter 4

I can tell you honestly that not even_ I _was expecting this story to go this way. It started off as a very fluffy three-shot and now it's becoming way, _way_ more. If I had known that it was going to end up like this then I would've done things in a slightly different order, I think. Oh well, please read on...

Oh, and to sheila: yes, I did consider using traditional Japanese things, but I decided that some people might not know what they were so I shouldn't include them.

* * *

First she was awoken by the barrier being crossed. Then she was further roused by the sharp rapping at the door. Chihiro groaned and shifted in her half-sleep. She was still so very, very tired. She then felt Kohaku get up from beside her, grumbling, and go to answer the door. Whoever was out there was being very persistent. Chihiro only hoped that they wouldn't wake the babies, Yukiko (the girl) and Yori (the boy), from their sleep as well.

Voices could now be heard coming from the front door. One was Kohaku's and was the other… Izumi's…? She sounded urgent. Suddenly Chihiro felt somebody shaking her awake. Kohaku. He was back.

'Chihiro,' he hissed. 'Chihiro, please, wake up…' Chihiro groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position.

'Wazzup?' she mumbled sleepily. 'Kohaku…?'

'Quickly, Chihiro, there isn't much time.'

'Waz goin' on, Haku?' There was a moment's silence, and then,

'I'm not sure.' Chihiro blinked groggily up at him.

'Then why-?'

'I—we—think that my-my father might be… might be planning to hurt Yukiko and Yori.' _That_ got Chihiro awake. She stared into Kohaku's abnormally pale face, and gulped.

'How do you-?'

'We don't, but… I wouldn't put it past him. The family name means everything to him and he… he hates me for what I've done. For what _we've _done.'

'Haku—'_ I'm sorry_, she meant to say, but her mate cut her off.

'It's ok. The important thing is that we get you and our children safe. Now come with me.' Chihiro nodded and scooped Yukiko and Yori up from their crib next to the bed. Two pairs of eyes, one chocolate brown and the other olive green, stared sleepily up at her.

'It's ok,' she murmured softly, trying to be reassuring. 'Everything's ok. Go back to sleep.' The pairs of eyes closed again. Chihiro looked up to see Izumi standing in the doorway, face very pale and with fear and urgency in her eyes.

'We need to get to the underground rooms,' she said quickly. 'We don't know when Takeshi will be coming, so it's best just to get secure first.'

'But… but are you _sure?_' Chihiro pleaded, looking imploringly from Izumi to Kohaku. 'Are you_ sure_ he wants to hurt us?' Izumi and Kohaku looked at each other, then at Chihiro, and then sighed.

'You don't know our father, Chihiro. There is _nothing_ he wouldn't do.' Kohaku sighed again. 'I suppose I should have told you more about people's reaction to our mating. Many were, as you know, ecstatic, but most were simply appalled, my father and most of my family among them.' There was pain in Kohaku's eyes.

'Right,' said Izumi. 'Now that we're done explaining, can we please _move?_' Chihiro nodded and staggered from the room, sleep-drugged muscles refusing to obey her properly. She felt her mate's comforting arm around her as he guided her through a hidden door and down a flight of musty stairs.

The house they lived in was strange. Kohaku had said that it had been given to him by his great-great-uncle, a powerful sorcerer who's main ability was bending space. This meant that the house could be almost twice as big as it should be or twice as small. Kohaku could shift the corridors to his will, making it a virtually impenetrable maze of walls and rooms if he wanted, which as probably what he was doing now, judging by the faint grinding sounds coming from behind them.

Eventually they reached a large room. I was completely white, with no furniture.

'You have a plan, Kohaku?' Izumi asked. Kohaku nodded, still pale. He turned to face Chihiro.

'Chihiro… I think you should leave here for a bit.' Chihiro simply looked at him, wondering what he was implying. 'You should go to the mortal world. Back to your parents. Now forever, but for a while. Just until it's safe.' Chihiro found that she was shaking her head.

'No,' she said firmly. 'I'm not leaving you.' Kohaku ground his teeth and glared at her in frustration, but Chihiro refused to back down. 'What good would come of it? In case you have forgotten, _Kohaku Nushi_, you _died_ in that world. You don't _exist_ there anymore, so just how—' Chihiro cut off with a gasp as she felt a strange jolt in her spine. Kohaku had felt it too, much more strongly, and his face went, if possible, even paler from the shock and pain.

'The barrier,' he hissed. 'Someone's broken down the barrier!'

'What? What's going on, Kohaku?' Izumi asked worriedly.

'I set up a barrier,' Kohaku explained. 'A barrier that is supposed to keep out anybody with hostile intent and somebody's broken it.' He took a deep breath. 'I'm sorry, Chihiro.' He reached towards her. Chihiro took a hurried step back as she sensed the magic on his finger tips.

'What are you going to do to me…?' she whispered.

'Send you to the mortal world,' he replied flatly. His face portrayed no emotion, but Chihiro knew him well enough to see the pain in his eyes.

'No…'

'You can settle down there. Raise our children. You can find a human tat you like and live a human's life. You won't have to be burdened by us anymore, Chihiro.'

'_No!_' Chihiro shrieked, backing away and blinking tears out of her eyes. 'No! I am not leaving you!' She scrabbled frantically around for a good reason to stay. 'Takeshi will trace me to that world! You know he will! I won't be safe there!'

'_Fine!_' Kohaku roared, emotionless mask breaking. 'Stay here with me! _Die _with me! Let our _children_ die with us!' Chihiro gasped and the pain and rage in his face and voice.

'There must be another way,' she choked, the faint outlines of a plan beginning to form in her head. 'Yukiko and Yori are part human already. Maybe we could… do think…?' It was an insane idea, but possibly their only hope.

'It's theoretically possible,' Izumi said quietly. 'It's never been done before, though, and it might kill them or us trying.' All three looked at each other, then at the twins. They were awake again, regarding them quietly, as if they knew the seriousness of the situation. Perhaps they did.

'Lets give it a go,' Kohaku said, and then winced. 'They've just entered the house.' Chihiro nodded, and held out her children. Every fibre of her being was screaming at her not to, but she did. Kohaku took them gently, lovingly, and then tenderly placed them on the floor at his feet. 'Ok, all join hands in a circle.' They did so. They took a deep breath, feeling the magical connections swell and bind inside them. Chihiro closed her eyes. She heard Kohaku say something, very softly, and then…

And the there was nothing.

* * *

Guide to honorifics (even though there aren't any in this chappie):

San= Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms. The most common form of honorific.

Sama= one level up from 'san'. Shows greater respect.

Dono= the highest honorific. Shows greatest respect, though I like to use it in a slightly sarcastic way ;)

No honorific= the speaker is either very close to whomever they're talking to or being extremely rude.

Kun= usually put at the end of boy's names to show familiarity or endearment.

Chan= usually for girls and is a show of endearment to siblings, close friends or lovers.

Senpai= someone of a higher station.


	5. Chapter 5

Whoot! Chapter five! I thank you, my faithful reviewers, 'cause I just couldn't do it without ya!

* * *

The first word was spoken.

Kohaku staggered. Izumi gasped. Both felt their knees go weak as their power was drawn. Through a haze of squiggling lights Kohaku saw Chihiro's knees buckle and struggled to hold her upright while making sure that he himself did not pass out.

Dizzily he fixed his eyes onto Yukiko and Yori. They stared back up at him, unafraid. They were brave, just like their mother, just like their aunt, and just like he hoped he was.

Kohaku found himself smiling as he spoke the words that would seal their fate.

'_Ningen… ni na~tsu…_' There was a flash. A flash of something that wasn't exactly light but more like… the _shadow_ of a flash of light. For a few seconds, Kohaku's vision turned completely black and he felt Izumi sway dangerously. Something hit his back hard and his vision slowly began to return. He discovered that he was lying on the floor.

He wanted so badly just to stay there, and to never move again, but he forced himself to roll over and push himself up onto his hands and knees.

'Izumi…?' his voice was a hoarse whisper. Izumi was also on the floor. She half opened one eye.

'My temple,' she rasped. 'They will be… well looked after… there…' that was that for her strength. Kohaku crawled over to his children. Their eyes were closed and their aura faint. Had the spell worked? Were they alright? …Yes. They were breathing, and they smelled reassuringly human. That was good, though he couldn't quite remember why anymore…

Sluggishly, the dragon tapped his snout onto the floor. He was too exhausted to keep up his human guise anymore. Two circles, one inside the other, lit up with blue light. Strange symbols ran in between them, and Yukiko and Yori were in the center.

'_Go…_' he willed, as sounds began to filter through the maze of passages that surrounded the room. That was bad, for some reason he couldn't remember . '_Go to the Izumi River temple…_' the circle began to glow even brighter, and through it, Kohaku could just about see the face of a middle-aged human woman. The head priestess, whom he had met just once before. He looked straight into her eyes. '_Their names are Yukiko and Yori. They are my children but know nothing of their true origins_,' he told her. '_You are to tell them that they were abandoned by the side of the river, alone, with nobody to care for them. You took them in, and made them children of the temple. They will live human lives an die human deaths. Do you understand?' _The woman nodded. Now she held Yukiko and Yori tightly in her arms. '_Good…_' he said softly, and then the light faded.

Kohaku was tired… so tried… but as voices filled the passage way outside, he prepared himself to fight.

* * *

Very very short. Sorry. And please don't kill me for what I've done to Yukiko and Yori ('cause if you do, then you'll never know how the story finishes *smiles sweetly*).


	6. Chapter 6

Eight and a half (human) years later…

'Hey! Yukiko-chan! Wake up!' Yukiko groaned as her peaceful sleep was disrupted by what felt like a small elephant sitting on top of her.

'Nnngh… gerroff, Yori…' Yukiko blearily opened her eyes and found herself looking up into a pair of bright olive-green spheres.

'Time to get up, Yukiko-chaaaaan…!'

'How can I if you're sitting on top of me?'

'Oops, sorry!' The weight left her, and Yukiko sat up. Grumbling quietly to herself, she put away her futon and went to get her clothes. Yori was already dressed, and prancing around the room making impatient noises at her to hurry up.

'I had that weird dream again tonight,' Yukiko said emotionlessly. Yori stopped his prancing and ran up to his sister.

'What happened?'

'Same as always,' Yukiko replied. 'River, hair-tie, dragon.' Yori shrugged, and ran a hand through his short black hair, causing it to stick up all over his head. The sun glanced off it, giving the illusion of greenish highlights. Yukiko sometimes wished that her hair was that colour. Instead of black, it was a deep chocolate brown that hung down to her shoulders. Pretty in it's own way, but she couldn't help thinking that she would look better with black hair, and green eyes instead of brown. They seemed almost too different to be twins, but that was what they were. Abandoned at the side of the Izumi River at only a few weeks old, and taken in by the temple out of pure goodwill.

'Airi-senpai says that the shrine wasn't cleaned properly yesterday, so we have to do it,' Yori said gloomily. 'We also have to do the weeding and pick the cherries,' he continued. 'But at least Akane will be there!' he said, perking up. Yukiko snorted. It was obvious that Yori fancied the pants of the pretty black-haired, blue-eyed nine-year-old girl, though he would never admit it. Akane's feelings seemed to be mixed about her young suitor. She bore his worship and accepted his gifts but showed almost no feeling towards him. It wasn't as if she didn't have any other admirers. Yukiko supposed that Akane was just used to the attention.

Yukiko was finally ready and she followed her brother as he rushed from their bedroom and down the stairs.

At eight, Yori and Yumiko could have been either small ten-year-olds or big nine-year-olds. Their size had been put down to a 'growth-spurt' by the priests and priestesses, but if that was the case then they had been on said growth-spurt for most of their lives.

After a breakfast of plain rice and vegetables, the twins got down to their usual routine: cleaning up, doing errands, and any other odd-jobs that nobody else could be bothered to do. They were, after all, living off the temple's charity, so were expected to work for their keep. There were a few other children around, but most of them had parents or relations who were expecting them to take over their jobs when they were old enough. There were a few teenagers doing work experience, but that was about it. It was a lonely existence for the two children, and if they hadn't had each other, then Yukiko was pretty sure that they would've, eventually, gone mad.

'Hey, Yukiko, gimme that basket will you?' Yori's voice interrupted her from her thoughts. Yukiko's brother was balanced precariously on the top of a ladder, whacking at a tree branch with a small stick. Yukiko passed the basket up just as a small shower of cherries fell from the tree. 'Score!' Yori whooped, catching (most of) them in the basket. He did a little twirl.

'Oh-look-it's-Akane!' Yukiko blurted out, pointing. Yori jumped, swung around, realized that Akane wasn't really there, teetered on the edge of the ladder for a moment, and then fell off. He hit the ground with a thud. Cherries scattered left right and centre.

'Not funny,' he whined over Yukiko's giggles. 'I could've been seriously hurt!'

'Oh, come on, nothing could crack that thick skull of yours!' Yukiko laughed. She bent down and began picking up the fallen fruits. 'C'mon, I'll help you pick them up.'

'That was your revenge for me waking you up like that, wasn't it?' Yori grumbled.

'Uh-huh!' Yukiko giggled. After that, however, quiet descended upon them. Birds chirped in the trees and the leaves rustled in the breeze. It was late autumn, and winter was coming soon. It was very peaceful. Lonely, but peaceful.

'Do you ever think,' Yori said suddenly, 'that there's a bit more to life than you're getting? That there's like… a piece missing?' There was a pause. Yukiko pondered his question.

'Well… well yeah, I guess, though I suppose everyone has it.' She shrugged. 'I don't think it's that strange.'

'Oh,' Yori said, shrugging. 'I suppose so.' Silence again, and then,

'I get strange dreams too,' Yori blurted out. Yukiko looked up, slightly startled. Yori was staring at his hands, which were clenching the fabric of his top. 'It's like… like I'm flying… and I can see everything beneath me and it's all so small and perfect, like a model, but I can see the trees moving and water flowing-there's a river, you see… and I'm just so happy, because I'm free, and the sky is so blue and the plants so green, greener than they are here. Everything's just so alive…' His eyes had a distant, faraway look. Yukiko was slightly alarmed.

'Yori—'

'But then it changes again, and I'm all wrapped up in a blanket, and the blanket is as blue as the sky I was flying in, and I can see this face. His eyes are just like mine and his hair is like mine, too, but down to his chin. And then he looks at me and says—'

'_Yori! Yukiko!_' It was a priestess, calling them in to lunch. The spell over the twins was broken, leaving them slightly dazed and blinking in the sunlight.

'Oh, good, I'm _starving!_' Yori exclaimed, and then dashed off past his sister, leaving her to pick up most of the cherries and follow him inside.

OXOXO

The afternoon was normally dedicated to study. The twins had lessons from Monday to Saturday and had all of Sunday free, though usually ended up only doing more chores. The Izumi River temple was basically in the middle of nowhere, with only a small town nearby from which to get the supplies that couldn't be grown in the gardens. Every now and then, one or both of the twins would be sent off to the little village shop to buy something, but these occasions were rare. The head priestess seemed to have strange issues about the way Yukiko and Yori were treated. They were to do work, like normal children, but also respected by the temple staff. It was strange. The woman also had an issue with how much freedom they got.

Therefore, they didn't get all that much of it. That was also why they had a personal tutor and didn't attend the local school.

'Do you ever get the feeling that they're sort of trying to… _alienate _us, do you?' Yukiko whispered to Yori.

'Hmm?' Yori wasn't paying attention to either the tutor of Yukiko; he was too busy sketching dragons onto his graph paper.

'Never mind,' Yukiko muttered, a little frustrated, and got on with her sums.

OXOXO

The rest of the day had past uneventfully. Everything ran as usual. Yori made a fool of himself trying to show off to Akane, and did most of his chores. Yukiko healed her brother's resolve after he had made a fool of himself, and re-did most of his chores. Finally, the two of them finished the painting they had been working on. Both shared the similar obsession of dragons, and this painting one happened to be one of a magnificent black lizard, with a deep green mane and icy-blue eyes. It's lips were pulled back into a feral snarl, revealing double rows of razor sharp teeth.

'It's a bad dragon,' Yori had said wisely, whilst sketching out the teeth. 'It hates humans because they're dumping trash in his river, but it hates others because it thinks that they damage his pride.' Yukiko couldn't help but agree with him. There was just something in the dragon's eyes that made her shiver, even if it was only a painting.

Later that night, when dinner had been served and eaten, Yukiko and Yori were getting ready for bed. It had been a perfectly normal, perfectly _boring_ day. Yukiko knew that she should be content with the life she had now, be grateful that they had a home and food and people who cared for them.

But she just couldn't shift the feeling that there was something missing. Like a jigsaw puzzle one piece short, just a little something that prevent the picture from being complete.

'_Although,'_ she thought wryly, _'it would be one grey and boring picture. Maybe what's missing is the colour…' _Yukiko often wondered what would have happened if they had known their parents, and she knew that Yori did too.

Speaking of Yori…

Yukiko looked up to see that her brother wasn't getting ready for bed at all. He was still in his clothes and staring out of the window.

'Yukiko-chan,' he said quietly, 'I think that you should come and have a look at something.' Yukiko slowly went over to the window. Through it, she could directly see the public shrine, as well as a small road, trees, and the temple garden.

'What?' Yukiko said. Yori pointed to the temple. Yukiko could see lights glowing from behind the windows.

'So?' she said, shrugging. 'They're probably just closing it for the night.'

'No,' Yori replied, 'they're not. I know they're not because I saw them do it a while ago.'

'Do you think we should tell somebody?' Yukiko suggested. She didn't know what sort of person would seek to rob a temple shrine, but this seemed to be what the people were doing.

'No, I don't think we should tell…' Yori said slowly, a sly smile beginning to appear on his face. 'I think we should take a look!' And then he was gone, moving fluidly and silently across the room, slipping through the sliders and running off down the corridor. Yukiko took one look outside, and then followed her brother.

A strange feeling began to well up in her chest and she tried hard not to giggle. What was this emotion? Excitement? Elation? Something like that. Something Yukiko hadn't felt in a long, long time…

* * *

Another chapter! Sooo... waddaya think of Yori and Yukiko? I didn't really describe it right in this, but Yori is basically supposed to look like Kohaku in miniature and with shorter hair, and Yukiko is supposed to looked like a smaller Chihiro with darker eyes and shoulder-length hair that she doesn't tie up.

I guess I should also tell you that I have NO idea how a Japanese spirit temple/shrine works and I couldn't be bothered to look it up.

I think that the best phrase to sum this chapter up is: '_the past affects the present_', because even though they are human now, Yori and Yukiko still have vague memories of their past and have a great interest in dragons. They also now that there is something incomplete about their life.


	7. Chapter 7

'IF YOU DON'T LET GO OF MY SISTER I SWEAR TO KAMI THAT I'LL—'

How on _Earth_ had it ever got to this?

'Do what? There's nothing you _can_ do, boy!'

They had only gone down to take a look…

'Yori! _Help!_'

… And now Yukiko was struggling frantically in the sweaty, hairy, horrible arms of a thief. Another man was pinning Yori's arms behind his back so hard that they hurt.

'_Yukiko!_'

'Shut the brats up fore somebody hears, _baka!_' said a third voice, and then Yori felt a large, sweaty hand slide over her mouth. The man who had Yukiko did the same thing.

'_Mmmmmmmmmph!_' Yori tried to yell. '_Gootph fffff pheee!_'

Oh _why_ had it had to come to this?

Yukiko's thief grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head up. Yori squirmed in his captor's grip and the man leered down at his sister.

'What should we do with 'em, then? This one's quite a pretty little thing. Might be worth something.'

Something inside Yori shifted at the man's words, and when he thought back to it later, the only thing Yori could compare it to was when you've spent ages leaning on one leg and then you shift your weight to the other. That was what it felt like, if only for an instant.

One second, he was a young boy, captured by a man far older and stronger than himself. The next, he was… something _else_. Something he couldn't quite place in the split second that it happened. All he knew was that his sense of the world changed. The things he saw were sharper, the things he heard were clearer, he could pick up scents he hadn't been able to before and there suddenly seemed t be a lot more of his body than before.

The man let go of him, and Yori fell to the ground, panting. _What the Hell had that been? _Well, whatever it was, I had certainly freaked out the men. The one who had held him was staggering backwards, and the other two had frozen solid.

Yori slowly walked forwards.

'Let go of my sister,' he hissed. The man didn't move. 'I said,' Yori raised his voice, 'let _GO!_' Very slowly, the man's grip loosened and Yukiko slid to the floor. Yori ran over to her.

'_Now what?_' Yukiko hissed.

'_Stand back-to-back,_' Yori murmured in reply. They did so. The men stood before them, each wearing an ugly shikami mask of some sort that made it impossible for anyone to see anything more than their beady little eyes.

'You're going to let us leave,' Yori said, sounding a heck of a lot stronger than he felt. 'We're gonna leave here and pretend that this never happened, ok?' Only silence greeted his words. 'I said—'

'Oh, we know what you said,' The third thief. He walked slowly forwards. Yori did at least feel some satisfaction that they were still a little scared of him. 'But, how do we know if we can trust you not?' Ah. Not good.

The man reached into his pocket and drew out a long, wicked dagger. Really, _really_, not good.

Yukio moved behind him, spinning them around and sending Yori hurtling to one side. Before he could move, scream, or do anything, however, there was a binding _flash_, along with an ear-shattering _crash_. Blue afterimages burned themselves into Yori's vision and his ears ran. Once the sound and blue had cleared, he could see that the man was lying, slumped upon the floor, several feet away.

Yukiko was staring at her hands as if she had never seen them before.

'Oh kami,' she whispered softly, before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her knees buckled. She had fainted.

'Yukiko!' Yori struggled to his feet. He felt dizzy. Was it to do with his fall or the strange sensation he had experienced before he got free? Barely even noticing the fleeing robbers, dragging their still-unconscious colleague. Yori stumbled over to his sister and fell to his knees beside her.

'Yukiko…?' He shook her, and to his relief she moved.

'It s'not morning yet, Yori,' she grumbled. Yori sighed with relief.

OXOXO

Yukiko was surrounded completely by darkness. A darkness that seemed to press down and suffocate her with it's density.

Before it could become too much, however, a tiny light was born just in front of her face. The light grew, until it was as big as her own head, and through it Yukiko though that she could make out a face.

Black hair. Blue eyes. Red lips. Pale skin. She recognized it from somewhere…

'Yukiko,' said the woman. 'I am sorry, Yukiko. We tried our hardest to protect you and your brother, but the spell grows weaker, the spell breaks, please be careful, Yukiko…' The light, the face, the dream or whatever it was, all faded away.

'_Yukiko…!_' That was Yori.

'It s'not morning yet, Yori…' Yukiko mumbled sleepily.

* * *

Japanese terms:

Kami= Japanese for god/spirit

Shikami mask= a mask that is the face of a demon

Baka= idiot

A/N

Uh oh, Yori and Yukiko are starting to break the spell...

This chapter was kinda rushed *sweatdrops* heh heh...

And Merry Christmas people!


	8. Chapter 8

Ta-daa! Another chappie! I thank you all, my faithful reviewers.

* * *

The spell had slipped. As the one who had cast it, he could feel it. It was unfortunate but not unexpected.

He had known that it couldn't last.

Eight years wasn't a very long time, but it was long enough. Maybe even too long.

It was time to wake up again…

Kohaku remembered back to what he had thought would be the last few seconds of his existence. Voices in the corridor, the terrible lethargy that had weighed down his very bones, the sharp need to protect. But when the door was blasted off it's hinges, it had not been who he was expecting…

_-Flashback-_

The door fell forwards, and the dragon prepared himself to lunge, to bite, to do whatever he could to defend his family.

_However, what he saw made his stop._

_Two young spirits, a male and a female, were standing, panting, in the doorway._

'_How long do you think you can hold them, Masaru-san?' the girl demanded of the boy._

'_Not very long,' the boy gasped in reply, face pale. 'Gods, father's gonna kill me! You use me, Saki-chan!_

'_Masaru'… the name seemed familiar, as did 'Saki'._

_The dragon growled threateningly. Saki regarded him calmly._

'_It's alright,' she said. 'We're here to help you.' Kohaku didn't have the energy to protest or, well, do _anything_ at all. He passed out._

A few hours later, he had begun to regain consciousness, but it was like being in a coma. He couldn't move, or speak, or even open his eyes. He was just a conscience, floating in darkness, waiting to wake up again.

Now, for the first time in eight and a half years, Kohaku opened his eyes. He sat up. Thick vines that had woven themselves around him fell away. He was in an underground burrow, it seemed, and had been lying on a bed of closely packed earth. The whole _place_ smelled of earth.

To his right, Chihiro lay. She frowned, eyelids fluttering, then lifting. To his left, Izumi groaned and opened her eyes.

'The spell is unsettled,' Chihiro said softly. 'It's time.'

'Indeed,' Izumi replied, sitting up. Kohaku said nothing for a moment, but then spoke.

'Now… _now_ is when it really starts.'

OXOXO

Yukiko was scared.

It wasn't to do with what the robbers had tried to do. That wasn't it.

It was what _she_ had done.

The light had danced from the fingertips, quivered through the air and hit the man so hard he was thrown across the room.

Yes, that scared her. That and the strange dream afterwords. What spell? What protection? What was happening? What was _she?_

And Yori too. Something had happened to him back there, as he writhed in his captor's grip. She hadn't really seen it, but it looked for a moment as if something had flickered around him, some other shape or… or _animal_. It had been long and lithe and a brilliant white.

Yukiko absolutely refused to believe it was a dragon. These things just didn't _happen _in her normal, boring, _human_ life.

Now she stood, alone, in the small wood the surrounded most of the temple. The sound and smells of the trees and earth helped relax her. Yukiko wandered over to where she could hear a small river winding it's way through the earth, and stood on the bank. She had always liked rivers. Their sound, their feel, the life they contained… so peaceful.

She grasped the branch of the nearby tree and leaned out over the water. The sun reflected off the water, making it hard to see what was under the glassy surface, although Yukiko thought she could see something moving around in it. I fish, probably.

The water swirled a rippled, as the fish swam closer to the surface. Yukiko managed to make out a faint shadow below the water.

Ah. Quite a _big_ fish then.

Yukiko hesitated a moment, then leaned over closer, trying to a get a better look.

What happened next was very sudden and very frightening.

For a moment, all was calm and then, with a flash of blue-green scales, something grabbed Yukiko by the front of her top and _pulled her in_.

She didn't even have time to feel afraid before the icy water closed over her head.

OXOXO

Yori hung, upside-down, from a thick branch of a tree in the forest. He liked the forest. It made him feel more peaceful. More at home. It also gave him the opportunity to clear his head a little in the private of his own company.

What had happened last night? Should he be scared or something? Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

They had been in the Izumi Shrine when it had happened, so maybe… the goddess had helped them or something…?

Despite being brought up in the temple, neither Yori or Yukiko were great believers in Shinto, but that didn't mean that the Goddess _didn't_ exist, did it?

'The world is so confusing,' Yori muttered to himself.

'Indeed it is, child,' a voice cackled. Yori blinked, and then hefted himself up to sit on the tree branch. He looked suspiciously around him.

'Who's there…?'

'Oh, nobody,' the voice answered. Numerous other voices cackled as well. Yori felt himself go tense.

'Ok then, 'Nobody',' he called, a prickled of fear beginning to work it's way up inside him. 'What do you want?' More cackles greeted his words.

'Oh, nothing much,' the voice replied lazily. 'Just to have fun… and to eat your flesh!' The voice sounded right behind him. Yori span around, saw nothing, and then

slowly…

…began…

… to _f…a…l…l…

* * *

_Le gasp! What is happening? Yori and Yukiko are in danger! Kohaku, Chihiro, and Izumi have woken up! Will they be in time to save their children?

^

|

| ... so cheesy you could use it on ten pizzas.


	9. Chapter 9

I'm BACK! Sorry for the delay, but I was visiting my grandparents and the internet connection there is terrible. But here is the next chapter!

* * *

Water, so much water, so much crushing, smothering, drowning water…

Yukiko's eyes and mouth were still open as she was dragged through the current. All was grey-blue and black-blue and green-blue. She was so stunned by the shock that she didn't even really register what had happened to her. All she knew was that she was drowning.

And then suddenly and small, horrid face leered up at her from the murky black-blue. It's teeth were sharp and it was covered greenish-yellow scales.

'_A kappa,' _Yukiko thought dully, eyes beginning to drift closed. _'It's a kappa. I've been taken by a kappa…'_ And then, very faintly, _'Yori…'_ Yukiko's eyes snapped open, and she stared into the Kappa's green ones. This monster wasn't going to separate her from her brother like that! _Nothing _would ever do that!

Yukiko drew back her right arm, and pushed.

If you had asked her if she expected anything to happen, she would have said 'no'. In fact, she only did it because she decided that she had little else to loose.

But what actually happened was that her palm came to a stop right in front of the Kappa's chest. The water above it surged and the scaly skin there peeled and flaked as if suddenly sprayed with scalding hot water.

The kappa gave a terrible scream and let go of Yukiko's wrist. For a moment, the girl just hung there, suspended in the water, before she used up her last bit of strength and pushed towards the surface. Her mouth met air and she gulped in great lungfuls of precious oxygen.

Slowly, still gasping, she kicked and struggled her way over to the muddy bank and heaved herself up onto it. The river hadn't really been that deep, although it seemed that she had been dragged quite a long way down the river.

Warily she crawled away from the water. That had _not _ been a pleasant experience, and yet another strange and unnatural thing had happened.

'What am I?' she murmured to herself, wrapping her arms around her body. She was cold and wet, but not really shivering. That was weird. She should have been after her dip in the river.

'Just what I was wondering,' said a high, cold, scratchy voice from behind her.

Yukiko jumped and twisted around, nearly falling into the river again. The kappa was right behind her, a scowl on it's face and one webbed hand clamped to the bloodied patch on it's chest. Yukiko stayed very still, hardly daring to breath. The kappa scowled at Yukiko warily. 'No human could do that,' it said. Although it was hard to tell, Yukiko thought that the kappa might just be female.

'I didn't mean to,' Yukiko said, voice very quiet. The kappa leered at her.

'Oh, didn't you?' it smirked bitterly. 'Oh no, of cause you didn't!' The creature came closer, close enough for Yukiko to see the small hole on the top of it's head. The hole was filled with water.

'_Oh yeah!'_ Yukiko thought, staring at the hole. _'Of course…I' _Slowly, Yukiko moved into a kneeling position, and bowed very low to the kappa. 'Please forgive me, kappa of this river. My name is Yukiko. Yukiko, erm, Gawa.' (The twins didn't have a surname, and it had never really occurred to anybody to give them one.) 'May I ask yours?' The kappa blinked at her.

'Nami Shiro, Yukiko Gawa.' The kappa replied. Then, to Yukiko's great relief, the creature bowed.

The kappa realized it's mistake just a second too late. Yukiko saw it's eyes widen and it tried to stop, but as it's head tipped, the water spilled from the hole in it's skull.

The kappa slumped into the mud, completely unable to move.

Yukiko edged forwards, fascinated, and gently ran her fingers over the smooth, shiny scales of one of the kappa's legs. The creature glared at her, but was unable to do anything as Yukiko gently passed her fingers over the burn on it's chest.

The light was different this time. It wasn't a sharp burst, meant to do damage, but a fine white mist that drifted from Yukiko's fingertips and onto the wound.

The kappa's eyes widened, and as the mist drifted back into Yukiko's hand, both saw that the wound was completely healed.

Gently, Yukiko scooped up the kappa in her arms and carried her to the water, gently sliding the creature back beneath the waves.

Nami regarded her curiously, before saying: 'I am in your debt, Yukiko-sama. If you ever have need of me, then simply come here and say my name. I will obey you, Yukiko-sama.' With that, Nami ducked beneath the water and was gone, leaving Yukiko staring at the dancing waves.

What had happened? What _would_ happen? _What was going on?_

She had to find Yori quickly.

* * *

Yukiko's powers are awakening fast... for some reason, I've always pictured Yukiko as more of a healer than a warrior. I guess she gets it from Izumi.

A kappa is a sort of Japanese water demon thing. Apparently, their favorite foods are human flesh and, strangely enough, cucumbers. They aren't really all that bad, I think, and they're also supposed to be very good at healing and to have first taught humans about bone setting.

Oh, and 'Gawa' means 'river' ;)

'Nami' means 'wave' :)

Notice how Nami-chan uses the 'sama' honorific now? Nami-chan is gonna be in this story again, probably. I like her.


	10. Chapter 10

FINALLY. God, I am so so _so_ sorry this took me so long! I have a truckload of excuses. For one, we've had our house turned out because we got a new kitchen. For another, I have been focusing a little more on my own, original works rather than fanfiction. And the last I'm going to mention is that I've been trying my hand at a load of Bleach (8D 8D 8D) stuff which is so crap it'll never make it online. (And just to let you know... I ship Ulquihime!)

* * *

Yori's flailing fingers scraped against the tree branch, his mouth opened wide but made no sound, his eyes bulged wide but took in hardly any detail as he almost seemed to hand in the air as he descended towards the hard, rocky ground.

Yori's fingers missed the branch, and suddenly nothing was slow anymore. The cold, hard, unforgiving earth was rushing up to meet him _and there wasn't one single thing he could do about it_.

Yori closed his eyes…

And then he stopped. Unmoving. Completely still.

Yori kept waiting for the pain to hit, for he had surely reached the ground. There didn't seem to be any other explanation. He had slammed into the ground but was so stunned from the impact that he didn't feel any pain yet. Yes, that had to be it.

'Oh, kami…'

The awed voice came from somewhere above him, startlingly close, and Yori dared to opened his eyes.

As soon as he took a glance around him, however, he instantly closed them again.

No… it was too weird. Too many weird things had happened lately, and this was just one too many. For he had not smashed against the ground. In fact, he had never reached it at all.

Yori hung, suspended, between the earth and the sky. He didn't move, didn't speak, for fear of breaking the impossibility.

'_What are you doing?_' the voice screeched, high and terrified from somewhere above Yori. Yori didn't bother to look up. A strange sensation was flowing through his veins, one that made him feeling as if he could touch the stars and run up mountains. The voice no longer scared him—it was as if… as if he was _above_ fear.

'No idea,' he replied softly, looking slowly down and feeling a slight jolt in his stomach as he realized just how far away the ground looked. But it seemed so natural to him now. Natural to be floating in the air, with no worries or burdens or bothersome responsibilities. He felt so… _free_…

Yori slowly and carefully moved himself so that he was standing in the air, and looked up above. What he saw nearly caused him to fall.

Right above him, on the branch where he had been sitting, was an enormous bird. It's cruel beak gleamed in the sun and it's claws glittered cruelly. But then Yori noticed that it also had arms tucked in amongst the feathers and a very human-like face, which was currently contorted into a scowl.

'You're a tengu?' The bird-like creature looked slightly surprised for a moment, before resuming it's scowling.

'Yes… and what are _you_?' the tengu hopped nervously from side to side on it's branch, looking at Yori warily. 'You're not human,' it continued, 'and you're not spirit. What are you?'

'I don't know,' was all Yori could say. Because the truth was he didn't know. He didn't know but… he didn't really care either. Everything seemed so peaceful at the moment. So right. Any emotion other than the mellowness he was feeling right now seemed wrong.

'_How can you not know?_' the tengu shrieked, glaring at Yori who gazed calmly back. He knew he could take this creature if he wanted to. He didn't know how, but he knew that he could.

'I just don't,' Yori replied, calmly. 'This has never happened to me before.' He took a hesitant step forward, grinning when his feet connected firmly with what felt like… well, _air_. It was a little like standing on ice—you were standing firmly on something, but that something was also a little inconsistent.

'Don't you?' The tengu put it's head on one side and gazed at Yori.

'No. Strange things started happening yesterday—me and my sister found some humans trying to rob the temple.' Yori scowled at the memory. The thought of what those _evil_ men had been trying to do still made him mad. 'They captured my and my sister but… something happened.' Yori shook his head. 'I don't really remember.' The tengu regarded him curiously.

'What is your name, bozu?' it asked. Yori hesitated before replying. He didn't exactly trust the tengu. 'I'm not really gonna eat you, you know,' it continued. 'That was just a joke.'

'_Well, it wasn't very funny.'_ Yori thought, but decided to tell the tengu his name anyway.

'Yori,' he replied cautiously, 'and I don't have a surname. Well, if I do, I don't know it.' The tengu's eyes widened with interest.

'I am Taka Idaina, Yori-sama. Pleasure to meet you.' Taka Idaina bowed his head respectively, and Yori was slightly nonplussed, as well as a little suspicious. Why the respect all of a sudden? 'If you don't mind me asking, but you were found by the temple only a few days after you were born, yes?' Yori nodded slowly, and Taka gave a high-pitched cackle of laughter.

'What do you know?' he asked quietly. The tengu cocked it's head to one side and regarded him knowingly.

'I think you ought to talk to your sister,' Taka said, avoiding Yori's question, much to his annoyance. 'She will have much to tell you.' Then, Taka beat his mighty wings and shot off into the sky.

'Wait!' Yori shouted, reaching as if to grab the tengu and pull him back. 'Wait! I want to talk to you!'

'If you ever need me in future,' Taka called back, 'just come to this spot and call my name three times! I will hear it and come! …probably!' And then he was gone.

OXOXO

'Yori!'

'Yukiko!'

'Yori!'

'_Yukiko!'_ The two children reached each other in the middle of the lawn and bent over, hands on knees, panting hard.

'Something amazing—'

'It was really freaky—'

'There was this _thing_! A kappa, I think—'

'I actually met a _tengu_—!'

'I thought I was _drowning_—!'

'I was actually _falling_—!'

'And then—'

'And then—'

Both siblings paused for breath at exactly the same moment.

'_Something really amazing—'_

'_Something really freaky—'_

'_Happened!'_ Yori and Yukiko finished together. They grinned at each other, still panting, but absolutely thrilled.

'You go first,' said Yori, collapsing onto the cool grass and staring up into the bright blue sky.

'Well… it happened down by the smaller river…' As Yukiko told her adventure, Yori's eyes grew wider and wider, and when she came to the part about the white mist, he sat up so fast he saw stars.

'Wait, stop, backtrack. You did _what?_'

'I said I healed her. With white mist… at least, it _looked_ a bit like mist, but it was sort of glowing…'

'I… wow,' said Yori, collapsing back onto the grass.

'And then I put Nami back into the river—'

'Why did you do that?' Yori sat back up again.

'I couldn't just _leave_ her there!' Yukiko protested.

'But it tried to _eat_ you!'

'_She_ was hungry!' Yukiko crossed her arms and scowled at her brother. Yori scowled back, expressions mirroring each other perfectly. 'Besides, if she hadn't, then I wouldn't've healed her, so I wouldn't've found out I could do it! But moving on from that, what happened to _you_?'

Yori told his tale, accompanied by many stares and gasps from Yukiko. Once he was finished, brother and sister collapsed onto the grass in unison, side by side, staring into the sky.

'Yori,' Yukiko whispered, a trace of fear in her voice, 'What… are we?'

'Well, I've been thinking about that too,' Yori said quietly, fiddling with the grass. 'And… Yukiko, as crazy as it sounds… I think we're gods, Yukiko.'

'_What?_'

'I said it sounded crazy, but it's the only thing I can think of…' Suddenly an idea struck him, one that seemed even more crazy than simply being a god. 'Yukiko,' he whispered, almost afraid to say it, 'you don't think… perhaps… we're _Izumi-dono's_ children… do you…?'

'I…' Yukiko didn't know what to say. She sighed heavily. 'I don't know, Yori. I just don't know.' Could they really be gods? And if they weren't, wasn't saying that they were blasphemy? But what if they were the goddess Izumi's children? That would certainly explain a lot of things…

'I mean, just think about it,' Yori said, getting more and more exited. He rolled over onto his side to get a better look at his sister's face. 'We were found as babies on the ranks of the River Izumi. We were raised by the temple that worships her. And now, we've been doing all these really… _magical_ things! We fought off grown men, you healed and I-I _flew_!' Yori's eyes were glittering as he babbled on, getting thoroughly over-exited as he began to realize just how possible it _was_ to be a god… and how _awesome_… he would win over Akane for sure if he was a god!

'Well… I guess it does kinda make sense…' Yukiko said slowly, also rolling onto her side to look at Yori. 'But… if we are Izumi-dono's children, then why did she abandon us? And why haven't we been able to use our power up 'til now? It doesn't make sense, Yori…'

'Well, some things don't make sense!' Yori said stubbornly. 'I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for it… we just don't know it yet! I'm sure Izumi-dono will tell us… maybe once we can use our powers at will, and not just when we're in danger!' What Yori didn't understand was that although it made perfect sense to him, it made virtually none to Yukiko. So many unanswerable questions swirled around her mind and yet… and yet in typical human fashion, she really did like the idea of being a goddess…

That evening, Yori and Yukiko began another painting. Neither said one word to each other as they sketched the outlines. Neither said one word while they filled in the details. Neither said one word while they added in the background.

It was only once they sat back and looked at their half-finished work, that either said anything.

Yukiko gently traced around the dragon's brilliant eyes, which she already knew were going to be a lovely olive green.

Yori ran a hand over the dragon's mane, which he already knew would be a blazing streak of green-blue.

'He's incomplete,' They said.

* * *

Right... now for all that definition stuff...

Bozu: Japanese term for boys which basically mean 'squirt' or 'kid'.

Tengu: a Japanese mythical creature. More info can be found on Monstapedia (I think that's how you spell it...)

Taka Idaina: ...well, 'Taka' means eagle and... I can't remember what 'Idaina' means XD


	11. Chapter 11

Heeeeeere we go! Hardly the longest chapter I've ever done but I've decided to split the plan I had for this one into two parts to make my life easier. I'm currently on work experience, which is something we do at my school for two weeks in my year/grade/whatever you want to call it (I am English), and I am currently working at a preschool for about _seven+ hours a day_ so I don't exactly have a lot of time for writing.

* * *

Eight years…it's been eight years…

What were Yori and Yukiko like now? Would they even be able to recognize them? And what would their reaction be to seeing their parents for the fist time after _eight years_?

Those were the thoughts that constantly swirled around Chihiro's mind as she rode Haku through the night sky. She wondered vaguely if most mothers felt a little like this at some point in their lives. Possibly. It suddenly struck Chihiro just how little she knew about being a mother. She had spent the first eight years of her children's lives underground and asleep. She knew absolutely nothing about them. What if… what if they hated her for what she and Haku had done? Or worse, what if they refused to believe that they were their parents at all?

Her mate shifted slightly beneath her, sensing her unease. He turned his head slightly and looked at her. _'It's going to be ok,'_ his look said. Chihiro nodded, but was not convinced. Just how could _anything_ ever be ok again?

A single tear slipped down her cheek and fell away into the night.

OXOXO

Yori couldn't sleep. He was far too exited to sleep. He could sense the cool night air and hear the wind rustling the leaves outside. Nights like this always made him feel strangely exited and set his blood tingling in anticipation. He had flown earlier that day. Had actually _stood in the air_. He felt as though he could do anything.

Trembling slightly with excitement, Yori silently untangled himself from his futon and, still in his pajamas, crossed the room and stood by the window. It was quite big, and easily big enough for him to fit through.

He opened the window and squeezed himself onto the sill. The wind tugged at his hair and clothes, much stronger than it had sounded from inside. Yori didn't let himself think of how far away the ground was, and indeed, there didn't seem to be much room left in his mind to think of anything other than _flying_.

Eyes and mind focused on nothing but the sky, Yori spread his arms wide and cast himself out of the window.

OXOXO

Yukiko was dreaming again.

Splashes and dashes of colour, blues, greens, whites and a flash of purple, like paint being spread across a canvas. The rush of water in her ears, and the thrumming of her own heart, becoming an amazing song played only for her.

Then the dream changed. She was holding in her hands a small purple band of wool, that sparkled and glittered in the strange, blue-green light. The skin of her palms tingled, as if the band was charged with static, but it didn't shock her.

The dream changed again. Now Yukiko was flying through the night sky, flying on the back of a great long white beast—a dragon. A dragon with turquoise mane and glittering olive-green eyes. They glided through the night, the shadowy ground far below them and above them the sky was lit with hundreds of stars that made constellations Yukiko had never seen before.

Suddenly there was a flash of brilliant white light, the light that had danced from her fingertips only two days ago. When it receded, Yukiko found herself in a river. _In_ a river, underwater, breathing water as if it was air.

'_Yukiko…'_ said a soft, high, female voice, one that Yukiko had heard just once before. '_Yukiko…,'_ it repeated. '_Yukiko… Yukiko… Yukiko…_' A pair of eyes, as blue and sparkling as sapphires, stared deep into Yukiko's. '_Yukiko… I think you wake up now, Yukiko…_'

Yukiko sat bolt upright, heart hammering, eyes wide. The window in the room was wide open and a cold night wind was billowing in. For a reason she could not quite place, Yukiko felt the horrible stirring of fear in her chest. 'Yori!' she called, her brother being the one she always called for when she was scared. '_Yori!_' No reply. Yukiko got to her feet and stumbled over to her brother's futon. It was dark, very dark, the light of the moon having been blocked off by huge thunder clouds, but there was light enough for Yukiko to see that _Yori's futon was empty_.

Yukiko staggered over to the window and she stood by it, chilled fingers groping for it's frame, face lashed by wind and rain, eyes half-closed as she stared out into the night. He_ hadn't…_ please, he_ couldn't _have…

But Yukiko knew in her heart of hearts that he had.

Yori had tried to fly.

* * *

Ohh boy, Yori, what have you gotten into now? XD

Things are starting to pick up a bit... Chihiro and Haku are gonna reenter the main plot soon, so keep reading... I have some good stuff planned for this story!

-Selena

P.S May Kami-sama be with you, Japan. We're all hoping you pull through this!


	12. Chapter 12

Ok, sorry for the long wait, but what can I say? I had a theater school show most of one week _plus_ exams. And I kinda got a little sidetracked with other stuff. But that's beside the point. The point is that I'm finally updating! *Fanfare*  
This chapter's a little rushed, and I wanted to do more, but I figured that where I got was a good place to end it. It's rushed 'cause I'm going to France tomorrow for a week, so I wanted to at least get _something_ done and posted before I left, 'cause I'm gonna have to get up at the un-Godly hour of _five thirty in the morning_ tomorrow to catch the damn train, so naturally I won't have any time to post.

And a big thank you to Chinni, the only person who's ever read this that I know in real life, for making my story look really popular and commenting on practically every chapter. Your support has been acknowledged (or something along those lines). And I forgive you for filling my e-mail inbox with FanFiction notifications.

Anyway, on with the chapter...

* * *

For the first half-hour, Yori was living it up.

He was flying, actually _flying_, beneath the cloudy sky, body filled with excitement and blood tingling with adrenalin. His take-off had been as smooth as he'd dreamed and his body felt light and agile as he lay on his stomach in the air, legs ruler straight behind him and arms spread out for balance.

The wind caressed his skin and ruffled his hair, hardly warm but not cold either—just right.

As he flew his sensed picked up things they never had before—trees that were moved by the spirits within them; the songs of the gods that rode on the wind; faint coloured shapes of creatures he had never seen before, had never _been able_ to see before, crawled across the ground and swirled through the air.

'_Mushi!_' Yori breathed, the word and understanding coming from the smallest instinctual memory within his brain.

But it only took a second to change.

The clouds in the sky became heavy and dark, and cold rain began to pour from the sky. Lightening flashed and thunder rolled and the winds began to blow more fiercely. Yori shivered in his thin pyjamas and wished he had thought to put a coat on.

The sense euphoria left him completely, leaving him with nothing but wet misery and the beginnings of panic as he attempted to control his increasingly haphazard flying.

At his mood dropped, so did his height. Yori began to sink down through the cold, wet air, and he had not noticed that he was in fact some way away from the Izumi River by now. He was flying low over the woods, deafened by the rustling of the leaves and desperately trying to find a place to land.

After a few minuets (although it felt like a few hours) he edged himself onto a thick tree branch.

'Excuse me,' he said instinctively, 'but do you mind…?' The tree _did_ mind. Twigs and leaves scraped at his face, the bark beneath his hands scratched at his skin. The tree itself was swaying so hard in the wind that Yori felt as though he would tumble off at any second.

Even worse, he was absolutely positive he would hit the ground if he did.

So, battling with the tree, the wind, and his own stupid fear, Yori inched his way along the branch and over to the trunk.

'_Please!'_ Yori almost sobbed. '_I'll fall!'_

'_Don't care,'_ the rustling leaves replied. _'Not right. Mustn't touch. Not right. Mustn't touch. Get OFF!'_ The branch gave a horribly violent lurch and Yori felt himself begin to slip.

'_Help!'_ he screamed, voice all but lost beneath the howling wind. '_Help! Please help!'_ The branch lurched again, and Yori's scrambling fingers could find no hold on the bark. '_Mama! Papa!'_ It was the first time he had ever called out for them._ 'Help me!'_

And he knew it would be the last.

Then, like a flickering candle in a pitch-black room, a small, single hope shone through the panic surrounding his mind, just as he slid off the branch.

'_TAKA IDAINA!'_ Yori screamed, as he fell down, down, down, into the blackness beneath him.

OXOXO

Yukiko as fast as she could into the woods. She had no proof that Yori was anywhere near there, but something, far stronger than the wind that tugged at her, seemed to be pulling her onwards.

Further and further she went, her blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders, calling for her brother in a voice unheard over the wind.

'_Not here. Go away. Not here. Go away,'_ the rustling trees seemed to say.

'_I will not go away!_' Yukiko yelled up at the swaying branches, knowing and not caring that she was talking to trees. '_Not until I find my brother!_'

Twigs caught in her hair and leaves whipped at her cheeks, but still she pressed on, deeper and deeper in the woods. Her ears became deaf to the howling of the wind, and the roaring of the trees, until all she could hear was her own heavy breathing, her own hammering heart.

Yukiko had never felt this afraid before—afraid for herself, afraid for her brother. _Where was he?_

'_Yori!_'

Just as she'd expected, there was no reply.

Eventually, absolutely exhausted and soaked through from the rain, Yukiko curled up at the foot of a young sapling that didn't seem quite as hostile as the others and shivered herself into a light sleep, a sleep that was haunted by her brother's terrified face.

Around her the storm raged on, but even if all were silent, Yukiko would still be unable to hear her brother's voice.

* * *

Le gasp! Oh no! What is happening?

...well, _I_ know what's happening *smirk* and you will too... in a month or so, going by my standard update-rate...

Oh, right, Japanese stuff:

Mushi: to be honest, it really depends on who you ask. If you go by the manga/anime _Mushishi_, then they are creatures that are 'in touch with the essence of life', and only certain people (or on this case, certain humans and most spirits) can see them. So, basically, they're a sort of spirit...? Lets just say they are, for my convenience.

Moving/talking trees: the idea here is that the spirits of the trees are yelling at Yori and Yukiko, and since the twins are half kami, they can hear. This has nothing to do with any fic/legend/anything that I've ever read/heard/seen. It is simply, as far as I am aware, something of my own invention.

Spirits Yori can see: it makes sense that spirits so near to humans would only come out at night, right? And since Yori's powers are only beginning to awaken, he can't see them all that well. There'll be more of this in the next chapter.

Also, my faithful reviewers, please,_ please_ correct me if I get something wrong. Please do not take everything I say as fact-remember, I research hardly _any_ of this stuff!


	13. Chapter 13

Heeeeeere we go again!

**OK: To those who are wondering why this story is rated 'T' when not much rated 'T' stuff has happened in it, THIS CHAPTER AND OTHERS LIKE IT ARE WHY. This chapter contains (some) BLOOD AND GORE, (suggested) VIOLENCE, (mentions of) WAR, and GENERALLY UNPLEASANT STUFF. You have been warned.**

* * *

Yori kept his eyes tight shut. The wind buffeted him this way and that. Twigs and leaves whipped at his legs. Sharp claws dug into his shoulders.

'_Taka-san?'_ Yori called above the wind. '_Taka-san, is that you?'_

'_Yes, Yori-sama!'_ a voice replied, sounding terribly far off even though Yori knew the speaker was right above him. _'Yes, it is I!'_

Yori dared to open his eyes for a second and instantly regretted—what he saw before him was like something dragged up from his own personal Hell. _Things_ swooped through the air, screeching and wailing, their shadowy forms lit up only briefly by flashes of jagged lightning. Yori wanted to close his eyes again, but found that he simply could not bare to as Taka swooped haphazardly through the air, barely avoiding the tops of trees and missiles fired by the other creatures in the air.

'_Taka-san! What on Earth's going on?'_ Yori yelled, flinching as what looked like a green arrow shot right past his head.

'_Nothing from _this_ earth, Yori-sama!'_ Taka shouted in reply, and Yori looked up to see him notching his own red arrow. _'This is a spirit WAR!'_ He let the arrow fly and gave a crow of triumph. '_GOT 'IM!'_ Suddenly he made a sharp jerk to the right and they dropped a few feet. _'Not him, though,'_ he growled, swiftly firing another arrow.

'_I'm gonna try and land!'_ he yelled at Yori, as they dropped swiftly though the air. _'It'll be easier to protect you that way!'_

'_Ok!'_ Yori replied, as they quickly began to drop, putting his hands up to clutch Taka's feathery ankles.

Suddenly he caught movement in the corner of his eye. He looked around just in time to see an arrow, poisonous green in colour, streaking through the air towards them.

'_Tak—!'_

They plummeted downwards. Cuts opened on Yori's arms and cheeks, and feathers were pulled from Taka's wings.

Suddenly the tengu above him twisted in the air, and Taka's claws released Yori's shoulders. Before he could even open his mouth to scream, however, a pair of feathery arms wrapped around his torso and pulled him close to their owner's body.

'_Sorry, Yori-sama!'_ Taka sounded a little out of breath. _'But it's probably better if I—'_

He didn't make it to the end of the sentence. Yori was cushioned by Taka's body as they hit they ground with a horrible _thud_.

'Oh _kuso!_ …Careful, Yori-sama, they've followed us down!' Taka struggled out from underneath Yori and got to his feet. He was quite short, Yori noted, only a little taller than Yori himself, but Taka drew himself up to his full height and prepared another arrow.

He fired upwards, and Yori heard screeches and flapping wings, as well as the sickly sound of arrow meeting flesh. Again and again he fired, until the quiver strapped to his back was almost empty.

He aimed his last arrow into the trees before them.

'Show yourself, creature!' he roared, showing a level of rage and determination Yori had never seen anyone display before. The leaves parted, and out from between them stepped… beautiful woman in white. Her skin was as pale as fresh snow, her kimono shone with a pristine whiteness, and her eyes were the lightest of light blues, like the sky on a clear winter's day.

'A Yuki-onna,' Taka hissed. 'Don't make eye contact, Yori-sama.' The Yuki-onna before them raised one delicate snow-white arm, and pointed it at Yori. The young boy was mesmerized by the sight. This woman could only be a goddess. Why on Earth was Taka still pointing that arrow at her?

But then the woman parted her icy-blue lips, and with a thrill of horror Yori saw the two rows of vicious fangs that protruded from her gums.

'_Want… him…' _the Yuki-onna said, in a voice as cold as an arctic gale that sent chills down Yori's spine. '_Want… him…I want… the half—'_

'_YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!'_ Taka screeched, and let his arrow fly. The Yuki-onna gave a very un-goddess-like screech as the scarlet missile embedded itself into her throat. A thick white substance leaked out of the wound as the Yuki-onna stumbled back into the bushes and then vanished from sight. Yori realized that he was shaking.

Without the Yuki-onna there, everything suddenly seemed a lot darker. He couldn't even see Taka clearly anymore as the tengu looked up at the skies and sighed.

'It's over,' he said quietly. It was. The storm had ceased and the trees had stilled. Yori suddenly felt absolutely exhausted. 'Go to sleep, Yori-sama,' Taka said softly. 'I will keep a look out.' Yori felt a feathered arm slip around his shoulders before he allowed his eyes to slip closed and he slipped into oblivion.

OXOXO

Yukiko opened her eyes slowly. Dappled sunlight, rain-soaked leaves and deep brown earth met her bleary eyes. She took a deep breath and tasted mud and mist and rain. Gingerly the young girl sat up, wincing as her joints popped and cracked, and wondered where she was.

Then she remembered—the weird dream, waking up to find Yori gone, going out into the storm, being called into the forest, the hostility of the trees, and then curling up and falling asleep.

Yukiko got up far too quickly and blinked away stars that filled her vision. Sore joints protesting with every move she made, Yukiko began to stagger onwards through the trees, still clutching her damp and tattered blanket around her shoulders. She could _feel_ Yori's location. He was so nearby, she _knew_ he was.

Yukiko wormed her way through some dense bushes—not against her now, just inconvenient—and stumbled onto what seemed to be a rough path of some sort.

Yukiko followed the narrow dirt track, positive that it was somehow leading her in the right direction.

Eventually, Yukiko parted some leaves before her and stepped out into a small clearing.

For a few seconds all she could do was stare at the sight before her.

At the foot of a tree lay… was it a bird or a man? It had a beak and feathers, but wore a tattered red tunic and arms.

Then it clicked—the creature was a tengu, just like the one Yori had met, and as she watched the head of a young boy peeped up from under one of the tengu's wings.

Yori blinked up at Yukiko for a few seconds, wondering who she was. The he realised.

'_YUKIKO!'_ he shouted, grinning. Yukiko grinned as well. Yori began to shake the tengu, attempting to rouse him, all the while shouting; 'Taka! Wake up! Yukiko is here! She's found us!' The tengu called Taka opened one eye.

'Mornin', Yukiko-sama,' he said, voice thick with sleep. He closed his eye again.

Yori shot Yukiko a mystified glance and put a hand on Taka's shoulder, shaking his slightly again. 'Taka?'

Cold dread began to replace Yukiko's joy. She watched as Yori carefully extricated himself from under Taka's wing and crouched down next to his prone form. 'Taka…?' he murmured, looking for a response. None came. 'Yukiko,' he said, equally as soft, 'come over here.' Yukiko forced herself to put one foot in front of the other as her heart began beat harder and dread welled up inside her. Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

Yori moved Taka's other wing from where it had been lying over his body. Both twins froze at what they saw.

Taka's hand was clamped over the lower right side of his ribcage, and from between the blood-coated fingers protruded a green arrow shaft.

'Taka…' Yori whispered. 'Oh, _Taka_…' Neither twin moved. They were stunned by the sight before them. Yukiko's body began to shake and her knees felt weak. But no matter how hard she wanted to she simply could not look away as Yori, very slowly, reached out a hand and grasped the arrow shaft.

'Yori,' Yukiko whispered, voice carrying clearly through the silence. 'Yori, what… what are you doing?'

'I have to pull it out,' he muttered, grip tightening.

'Yori, _don't!'_ Her voice surprised her—it was far too harsh and loud for the silence—but she pressed on. 'You have no idea what you're doing—you take it out and he could bleed to death!'

'And _you_ can heal him!' Yori snapped back, still holding onto the arrow shaft. 'Or have you forgotten how? Or are you too _scared_ to be any use?'

'Yori, I—'

'No—haven't you noticed? Our powers don't work when we're scared, Yukiko… why do you think this happened? Taka protected me when I couldn't fly… he helped me… and now…' Yori's voice cracked and released the arrow, tears brimming in his eyes. 'It's _my_ fault, Yukiko. If I hadn't been so stupid… this would never have happened.' He buried his head in his hands, slightly muffling the sobs that further penetrated the deathly silence around them. Not a leaf stirred, not a twig cracked.

'Yori,' Yukiko said gently, walking all the way over to Yori and hugging him tightly. 'Yori, it wasn't your fault—'

'_Yes it was!'_ he howled. Yukiko could tell he was working himself up into a full-blown tantrum, which would _not_ help matters at all.

'Ok, fine, it _was_ your fault, if that's how you want to look at it,' Yukiko spat, loosing all patience, 'but crying isn't gonna help but now, is it? If we can't do anything, then we have to find someone who can.'

'_Who?'_

'We can take him to Nami Shiro,' Yukiko replied, thinking on her feet. 'She's a kappa… they're healers, right?' Yori still looked doubtful. 'If we can't find her then we'll take him back to the temple, and if we can't find the temple… well, then we're screwed anyway. But we have to do _something!_' Yori's jaw tightened and her nodded.

'Help me lift him,' he said. Yukiko nodded and went to crouch next to Taka's unconscious form. 'Put his other arm over your shoulders,' Yori instructed, Taka's left arm already around his neck. 'Yes, like that… count to three and then stand up… then we can link hands.'

'Right.'

'Ok… one, two, three…!' Taka's body hung between them. Leaning forward slightly, Yori and Yukiko quickly released the tengu's hands and grasped each other's beneath Taka's legs. He now sat on their linked hands, one arm around each twin's neck. The tengu was surprisingly light for his size.

'Which way to the river?' Yori asked.

'That way,' Yukiko replied, nodding to her left, and sounding more sure than she felt. There was no form of supernatural sense now, not a sort of pull like the one that had brought her to her brother—it was just guess-work and… perhaps a little instinct.

They began the long walk through the forest.

* * *

...Aaaaaaand that's it. For now.

Sorry its been such a long time. I honestly have no excuse now. BUT I did a picture of Yukiko! It's on my deviantArt account-the link's on my profile. I'm gonna do one of Yori too, but my tablet is currently out of action at the moment (and I have no idea WHY) so it could be a while.

A Yuki-onna (lit. snow woman) is a ghost or yokai found in Japanese folklore. She freezes people to death in the snow, whether through powers of her own or simple letting them die of exposure. In this story, I have portrayed her as a negative being. I have also dragged her down from the snowy mountains from where I assume she came to try and steal Yori. For the sake of this story, I say that the lure of bloody war and a young demi-god would be enough, but please, PLEASE be aware that I research hardly ANY of this stuff, and that the things I do research aren't necessarily included in the story. I have probably made the Yuki-onna out to be a lot more like a Yama-uba ("mountain crone"), despite the fact that Monstropedia said that a, they were different and b, that people often got the two mixed up. Please, CORRECT ME IF I GET THINGS WRONG. Get things wrong about ANYTHING. It is YOUR DUTY to me as a READER.

Oh, and who can guess what 'kuso' means? ;)


	14. Chapter 14

I'M SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LOOOONG D: D: D: For one thing, I had loads of end of year stuff, and then _holiday_ stuff, and I also took a break from writing this to do some Bleach... I think it's good and I posted it... but I didn't choose very popular characters, and only one has had a review :(

ANYWAY... enough with that, one with the story!

* * *

'Mmm.' Chihiro wasn't really listening. Her head was beginning to loll forward onto her chest as she sat, cross-legged, on the cold, hard roof, staring unfocusedly into the distance.

Sighing, Kohaku moved behind her and pulled her back onto his chest. Chihiro closed her eyes.

'Rest now, little human,' Kohaku said softly, kissing the top of her head. A chill wind swept by, tugging at his hair and sending goose bumps prickling over his beloved's lightly tanned skin. Nothing had changed since the day they had been put to sleep in the forest. Little had changed since the day they were married. In the Spirit World, time had little power. What took years to form could be reversed out of existence in the bat of an eyelid, with the snapping of fingers. Chihiro no longer had to age.

They could spend the rest of eternity together.

But just how long was eternity now? The future was so uncertain. Either of them could die within the next few days. Chihiro was his heart—to lose her would be… would be worse than death.

Which was why he savored these moments with her, because he knew that each one might be the last.

'Their powers are progressing faster than we anticipated,' Izumi murmured, cutting into Kohaku's thoughts. 'They're acting as a sort of beacon, attracting spirits from miles around.'

'I know,' Kohaku replied, 'I can sense it too.' He sighed heavily. 'They must have no idea what their powers mean. Otherwise they'd stop using them.'

'I've been able to contact Yukiko twice already.' Izumi obviously wasn't listening. She was staring out in front of them, in the exact direction of their journey—towards the location of the two young demigods. 'I tried again last night, but I couldn't quite reach her… she was just off my temple grounds.' Izumi sounded slightly irritated.

'What was she doing off the temple grounds?' Kohaku murmured, staring once again in the direction of the battle. Then a thought struck him and he whipped his head around to look at his sister. 'Wait… she wasn't _in_ the battle, was she?' Izumi returned his gaze steadily.

'That's for you to tell me,' Izumi replied, voice unusually cold, 'she's _your_ daughter.' Kohaku was stunned into silence.

Because she _was_ his daughter.

And where had he been for the past eight-and-a-half-years?

Izumi saw the look of shock and pain in his eyes and her expression immediately softened. 'Oh, Kohaku, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—'

'It's ok.' He forced a smile. 'You didn't… yeah.' He looked away so that she didn't see the pain in his eyes. 'I'm going to kill Takeshi,' he said mildly.

'I don't doubt.' Izumi sounded as if she had her eyebrows raised sceptically, but Kohaku didn't look around to see. Instead he looked back down at his beloved. She looked so peaceful asleep. It was a pity really…

'Chihiro,' he murmured softly, shaking her slightly. The human mumbled something and sleepily opened her eyes.

'Waddaya want?' she grumbled. Kohaku chuckled softly and craned his neck down to give her a peck on the cheek.

'Time to get going now, little one,' he said, shaking her softly again. For a few seconds, Chihiro did nothing, before mumbling sleepily;

'Carry me…?'

Kohaku couldn't help it. He began to laugh. The sound was strange but good to his ears. Chihiro looked up at him, annoyed. 'Whatzo funny?' Her voice was still so thick with sleep. Kohaku only found himself laughing harder. Eventually her calmed down enough to, still chuckling, lift Chihiro up into his arms. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Laughter was a truly amazing thing.

He and his dear sister leaped up into the sky, neither bothering to revert to their dragon forms. Heart filled with determination, Kohaku directed himself towards his sister's river and began the last leg of the journey.

OXOXO

Taka lay on a mossy bank a few meters away, torso firmly wrapped in white cloth, and still unconscious.

Yukiko and the kappa sat a little way away, talking in hushed voices about something or other.

And Yori sat on the river bank, wet, grubby, and almost completely exhausted.

Taking a deep breath he stood up to try again. '_This time_,' he told himself, and he spread his arms to the side and fixed his eyes to the skies. '_This time I'll do it_.' His feet rose a couple of centimeters off the muddy ground. He let the feeling of weightlessness fall over him, banishing all thought but the feel of the air on his skin, and the memories of the joys of flying. Yori took a small step forward, feet sinking slightly into the air beneath them before rising again. It was a lot like walking over some sort of jelly.

Another step. Then three more. The air beneath his feet changed, became colder, and Yori knew that he was over the water now. Hopefully he wouldn't fall in again…

'Yori!' Yukiko's voice shattered the stillness of his mind. Yori's eyes flew open and suddenly, the only thing beneath his feet was very thin air.

His mouth opened and he had just enough time to issue a strangled yelp before it was filled with water.

Yori kicked and splashed back over to the river bank, where he hauled himself up and collapsed against the trunk of a nearby tree. He shot an irritated look at his slightly guilty-looking sister as she stood by him.

'_What?_' he asked irritably. Yukiko looked even more guilty.

'Um, well,' she began, 'Taka seems to be coming round. I thought you would like to know.' Yori's eyes widened. Exhaustion forgotten, he leaped to his feet and ran along the riverbank, over to where the tengu's body lay on the soft ground.

The kappa was poking her head out of the water, watching Taka as he slowly raised a hand to his eyes and gave them a hard rub. Yori went down on his hands and knees and also watched.

'Ow…' Taka groaned, letting his hand flop back onto the ground. 'What happened? Wait, am I hung over? I'm hung over, aren't I? Oh kami, I knew going at the sake offerings was a bad idea…'

Yori couldn't help it. He laughed. Laughed until his sides hurt and his cheeks were sore. Laughed until his arms gave out and he collapsed onto the ground. Laughed until there seemed to be no air left in his lungs. And as soon as he'd got his breath back, one looked at Taka's bemused expression sent him laughing again.

'Yori…' Yukiko muttered, elbowing his side.

'S-sorry!' Yori gasped, eyes watering so badly he could hardly see his sister's annoyed expression. 'It's just-just that I…' he collapsed back into a fit of giggles.

'What's up with him?' Taka asked, pointing to Yori's shaking form. 'And who're you? And what…?' Understanding downed on the tengu's face as he focused his gaze on Yukiko. 'Oh. Oh no. I… well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Yukiko-sama.' Taka nodded respectfully to Yukiko.

'You were all anyone talked about, eight-and-a-half-years ago,' he replied. 'And people were talking about you quite a lot last night, too.' His smile became wider and Taka gave a weak sort of chuckle. ''Sides, you two have the same expressions.' He nodded to Yori again. The young boy had finally calmed down, and he sat up, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. He grinned down at Taka.

'I'm so glad you're ok, Taka-san!' he said 'I was so scared, Taka-san… I thought you were going to die!' A faint flush spread across the tengu's cheeks, almost invisible under the feathers.

'I am greatly touched, Yori-sama,' he replied. He ran his fingers lightly over the bandages on his side. 'Who healed me? Was it one of you two?' The twins shook their heads in unison.

'It was I,' Nami said quietly. Taka turned his head to look at her. His eyes widened slightly.

'Thank you very much, kappa-san,' he said formally.

'I was merely repaying a favor for Yukiko-sama,' Nami replied, equally as formal. An atmosphere had settled over them that neither of the twins liked very much.

'What _was _that last night?' Yori asked quietly. Taka and Nami glanced at each other briefly, as if wondering how much to say.

'War,' Nami said quietly. Taka nodded.

'Spirit war.' Yori resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

'You told me that last night,' he said. 'I want to know more. Like, what was the war about? _Why_ was there a war?' Taka and Nami looked at each other again. It was that speaking look that adults give each other when faced with serious questions given by young children. It was the 'they're very young so we probably shouldn't tell them all that much' look. Yori loathed it.

'Tell us,' he growled. The kappa and the tengu glanced at each other once more before Taka took a breath and said;

'We were fighting over you two, Yori, Yukiko,' said Taka, nodding to each twin in turn. Yori and Yukiko looked at each other in shock for a moment before snapping their heads back to look at Taka.

'_Why?_' Yori and Yukiko demanded at the same time.

It was Nami who answered this time; 'because you shouldn't exist,' she said.

* * *

Dun dun dun duuuuuuun! Please review :3


	15. Chapter 15

OH MY GOD PEOPLE I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG AAGHIKFOPEWAJHDFJIK!

Ahem. I would like to say something:soon, it will be over a year since I first published this fic, but since I'll probably miss the exact date, I'm gonna being talking now

Wow. When I first started it, it was intended to be a cute, fluffy three-shot about Haku and Chihiro becoming parents.

But somebody released the Plot Bunnies.

And the story morphed.

I remember how, after it morphed, I actually considered killing off Haku and Chihiro and having them still play their part in the story...

But then I realized that they'd have to die again in the end, so I scrapped that idea.

Much stuff has happened since I began this... I've done my first Bleach fics, I've discovered Naruto (which is pretty awesome XD), one of said Bleach fics helped me receive my first flame (SOMEONE IN A BLACK TRENCH COAT MAY REMEMBER THAT) and I heated hot chocolate with it (yum).

Sorry for boring you there, lol, so now... READ ON!

* * *

Yori recovered first.

'_What?'_ he gasped, incredulous. Take couldn't be serious. Just _couldn't_ be. Or he was mistaken—very much so. "Not supposed to exist"? How could that possibly _be?_ What had they _done_ to merit _that?_

'You shouldn't exist,' Nami repeated, slowly and deadly serious.

'B-but _why?_' Yukiko gasped, looking horrified.

'We can't tell you yet—please don't give that look, Yori-sama, I'm telling the truth—this world works in strange ways and… you're just not _meant_ to know yet, ok?'

'_Great_,' Yori muttered, getting up and stomping over to the river bank. 'Absolutely effing _great_.' He kicked at the water and a small tidal wave rose up to smash into the opposite bank, breaking oof chunks of earth and making the once calm and relatively-calm water go opaque and choppy.

Yori was wet and tired and irritated. Why was this happening to him? His life had been… well, not perfect but _good_ before all this had started, before all the freaky stuff with gods and magic. He knew that it was partly his fault—it was, after all, _he_ who had foolishly wanted to look at the temple thieves, maybe even in the _hope_ that he would somehow 'save the day' or something like that. But instead he had gotten him and his sister into pretty much life-changing _trouble_.

Small waves still lapping in the wake of the tidal wave, Yori turned back to his sister, who was still sitting on the damp ground, a look of innocent surprise on her face that somehow only irritated him further.

'Um, maybe we should get going,' Yukiko suggested. 'They'll be getting really worried about us... we've never been away from the Temple for so long before...' Yori nodded, still annoyed and not really listening He began to stomp downstream. Taka's voice stopped him.

'Um, Yori-sama?' the tengu said nervously.

'_What?'_

'It's the other way, Yori-sama,' Taka said, slightly apologetically.

There was a slightly awkward pause.

'I knew that,' he muttered, stomping back again. Taka, Nami and Yukiko all tried to suppress grins.

'C'mon,' Yori said again, as if nothing had happened.

'Y-yeah,' Yukiko agreed, getting up. She turned and bowed to Taka and Nami. 'Arigatogozaimashita!' she said quickly, before turning around to run after Yori.

'Follow the river until it connects to the Izumi River, then go right!' Nami called out after them. Yori flashed a quick thumbs-up to indicate that he'd heard them before he pushed his way through a bush and knew they couldn't see him anymore.

'Hey, Yori, wait up!' Yukiko called from behind him, struggling her way through the bush. Yori stopped and waited. Eventually his sister came through, leaves in her hair and looking irritated.

'You were very rude, Yori!' she scolded, crossing her arms. 'Taka and Nami helped us so the least we can do is be polite!'

'I'm know,' Yori grumbled, 'but it's just so frustrating! How, can you stand it, Yukiko? How can you stand being right in the middle of something and _everybody else knowing more about it than you do?_' Yori tried to keep his voice low, knowing that Taka and Nami would probably hear him if he didn't, but the steadily-building rage inside of him made it difficult.

'I trust Nami and Taka,' Yukiko said, looking Yori firmly in the eye.

'Well—' Yori faltered, 'so do I,' he admitted. A smug look crossed Yukiko's face and Yori felt his cheeks begin to burn with annoyance and embarrassment. He stuck out his bottom lip in an irritated pout and crossed his arms, looking at the ground and stirring up the leaves with his toe. 'I just hate being kept in the dark all the time…' he mumbled, before looking up at his sister again. 'We've lived our wholes lives as lies, Yukiko,' he bit, glaring at her. She flinched and he said more softly; 'I just wanna hear the truth for once.'

Yukiko looked down at the ground sadly. 'I know how you feel,' she said softly, 'but please, don't be so angry!'

'I'll try,' Yori mumbled. Yukiko looked up and smiled at him. Yori smiled back. They'd made up.

'Lets go,' Yukiko said, walking forward and taking Yori's hand. 'They must all be worried sick about us…' Yori sighed and nodded. With all that had happened,

They continued on their journey.

* * *

Arigatogozaimashita: what Google Translator came up with when I typed 'thank you very much', lol.

Just to let people know, there is currently a poll on my profile. It's not very important, but I'd like it if you did it :)


	16. Chapter 16

I'm back... OMG... I'm so sorry. But it's been buy for me. We have a _horrible_ exam system in England, which means that, despite many of us still being minors, we have to take possibly life-altering exams which can decide which college we go to (more like the last couple of years of high school than what 'college' is in America, I think), which university (college) we go to, and ultimately, even what job we get.

So, therefore, I haven't had much time.

'But why couldn't you updated over Christmas?' because over Christmas, I was busy with _Christmas_ stuff... and coursework. Ye-ep, I had coursework over Christmas. FML.

Another thing: as many of you have probably noticed, I have made quite a few mistakes in things in this story. A brilliant example is how I have often written the Japanese for river as 'gawa', when it should be 'kawa'. I have no idea why I made this error. I can only guess that I mistyped it once and kept on copying it incorrectly. But the point is, no matter how annoying it may be, I am _not_ willing to go back over every single chapter and correct it. I'll just make sure I get it right from now on.

Right. That's it from me. Read on!

* * *

Kohaku Izumi tensed suddenly. Chihiro, who was on her back, and Kohaku, who was flying beside her, looked at her expectantly. Both dragons slowed.

'_What is it, Izumi?'_ Kohaku asked. Izumi's eyes had gone wide.

'_Takeshi is approaching my temple grounds…'_ she replied. _'I… never thought he'd so that…'_ Uh oh.

'_Take care of Chihiro.'_ Kohaku was already gathering speed. _'I will __**not**__ be letting him anywhere near our children!'_ He streaked into the blue sky, towards his father and the children he threatened.

OXOXO

Yori's feet were wet.

Which, as he and his sister trekked on through the dense greenery, was about all he could think of. The squelch of grainy water between his toes had been somewhat pleasant at first, but now it was just annoying. _Really_ annoying. That's and he was still pretty much soaked to the bone. When he'd been practicing magic before, it hadn't mattered to him at all—in fact it felt really quite pleasant against his skin—but now a cool wind was blowing though the trees and he was beginning to shiver.

As he and Yukiko made there way along, helping each other over logs and holding branches out of each other's way, he felt a small pang of sadness in his heart. How long had it been since they had helped each other like this? How long had it been since they were _really_ _children_? It felt like so long since their adventure had begun, and in the light of what he had witnessed (the battle, the blood, spiraling down and down and down) Yori had almost forgotten what it was like to be a child.

…How sad was _that?_

They had reached a clearer area where the threes were a little thinner and they didn't need to fight just to move. Yori wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and fell backwards onto his butt, sitting on the cool earth and letting his aching legs finally rest.

'I'm tired!' he complained. Yukiko smiled, tired but apparently pleased that he was acting like himself again.

So they rested a moment, the sunlight gently falling through the leaves on the trees. Birds twittered happily and the air felt almost warm. It was nice…

They soon started moving again, however. They looked at each other, and with an unspoken agreement got back into their weary feet and continues trudging onwards. It was peaceful, yet very sleepy, and twice Yukiko had to quickly yank his T-shirt to stop him from walking into a tree. Yori was beginning to wish he had not used up so much energy flying…

Then suddenly, they both stopped. Yori looked at Yukiko. Yukiko looked at Yori. They instinctively stepped closer together.

They had walked into what seemed to be a perfectly ordinary part of the forest, with a large tree, one of the oldest they'd seen, standing proud and tall to their right. The ground was carpeted with slightly damp brown leaves, and there weren't any brambles, so crossing it should have been easy.

But as soon as they'd passed a small beech to their left, it was as if they had stepped into an icy pool. The air felt chilly and the ground cold beneath their feet. It was as if they had stepped from mild early autumn straight into midwinter. What…?

Then Yori saw him. He seemed to melt out of the tree, emerging from the wood as if he were part of it, brown like the bark and with the same crags and cracks. But as he came further out his skin smoothed and other lines formed, lines that showed clothes and hair and eyes.

The eyes opened. They were a startling ice blue.

Cold power radiated out from him, and Yori and Yukiko instinctively took a step back, getting closer together. Yori put a protective arm around his sister, and she gripped his still-wet T-shirt with a small squeak of fear.

The man stepped away from the tree. There was a white patch in the bark from where he had torn himself out, and the leaves of the tree seemed slightly shriveled, far less healthy.

The eyes focused upon them. Upon Yori. Ice blue met olive green.

A chill unlike any other he had felt shivered down Yori's spine like ice-cold water. He knew, without a doubt, that this man was dangerous. He felt Yukiko's hand fist itself into his T-shirt, but Yori couldn't move, couldn't look away…

The man took a few steps towards them. The twins remained frozen, unable even to run, even to _think_…

The man's pale lips curved into a warm smile, and yet his eyes remained as icy as a frozen river. Yori heard Yukiko give a little squeak of fright, and wished he could do something, _anything_, but knew instinctively that his meager powers, while being strong enough to defend himself from a tengu if necessary, were _nothing_ compared to the powers of this man.

'It's alright,' the man said, smile widening and revealing unnaturally pointed teeth. 'I won't hurt you… I am your grandfather, after all.'

_What?_

Yori was afraid. He couldn't deny it… but if this man was his grandfather, as he said, then… they could suddenly be so, _so_ much closer to finding the family they had always lacked.

'Why don't you tell me your name, child?' the man pressed. His voice was as cold as his eyes, but… but he was a kami. A _kami_. _Yori's grandfather_, a _kami_…

So close. So, _so_ close…

Yori opened his mouth to speak. His throat and mouth were dry, and at first all that came out was a weak sort of gurgle. He swallowed, and opened his mouth to try again.

Then a voice, young, powerful, and full of passionate emotion, rang across the clearing. '_GET AWAY FROM MY SON!_' they roared.

* * *

...I think we'll leave it there ;)

**I'll probably not be updating for a while. As I mentioned before, EXAMS will be making my life harder for quite a few weeks to come. But, if you review, it _may_ just encourage me to write a little faster... *hint hint hint***


	17. Chapter 17

Sooo... hi guys.

Ok. Here we are. Finally. Just something I need to say, and it's important:

**This update will be my last for a while.  
****  
**Seriously. Solid waste matter has hit the rotating blade device with regards to exams. I have literally five-and-a-half days of school left, two of which will involve no learning whatsoever. I'm getting my revision on. I need good results, and that means (oh horror of horrors) _NO FANFICTION UNTIL THEY ARE DONE._

And even then, I'll need to actually _write_ the chapter and we all know how long _that_ takes...

(That and Homestuck has been _incredibly_ distracting. And Tumblr. OMG Tumblr...)

I tried to make this one a bit longer in a poor attempt to make up for it. Enjoy!

* * *

Yori stared, mouth agape, at the man who had entered the clearing. He was tall, nearly as tall as the other man, and power radiated from him. His power, however, had none of the chilling qualities of the other man. It was like a ray of sunlight had fallen upon the clearing as soon as he had entered.

It was clear to anyone who looked, however, that he was also filled with rage. It roiled about him like a stormy sea, powerful and lethal, contrasting starkly with the almost friendly feel of his power, sharper and more dangerous than the samurai katana clutched in his hand.

He was younger than the man who had claimed to be Yori's grandfather, and his eyes were a deep olive green. He was wearing a truly exquisite green kimono, embroidered all over in darker thread, with dragons swirling all across the fabric. It did not seem to settle, as if it was constantly filled by a breeze. His hair was dark and straight, down to his shoulders, and floating in the same way as his kimono.

Nevertheless, the two men still looked startlingly similar. The shape of their face and the colour of their eyes simply could not be ignored…

Then the man's words finally clicked in Yori's brain.

"_Get away from my son,"_ he had said.

"_My __**son**_."

_Yori was his son_.

Yori took a step back. Yukiko, still latched to his side, stumbled but managed to move with him.

The older man had released Yori from his petrifying gaze, and the twins could move again. They were both panting in shock, breathing perfectly in sync.

'Kohaku-kun,' the icy man said, the warmth in his voice only serving to make it sound all the more unsettling. 'It has been a while. Over eight years, has it not?'

'I said, _get away from my son,_' the younger man repeated, voice shaking slightly in rage.

'Let's run,' Yukiko whispered in Yori's ear. Yori could feel her shaking as she clutched his arm, and he himself was pretty scared… though he knew he couldn't leave just yet. He _had_ to know…

'You can go if you want,' Yori hissed in reply, eyes darting constantly between the two men. 'But I'm staying.' He heard Yukiko gasp and felt her grip tighten on his arm.

'_Yori!_' she whispered, alarmed. 'It's so _dangerous!_'

'I know,' was all he could say in reply.

'My my, Kohaku-kun,' the older man said, giving another icy smile. Yori saw the younger man flinch slightly, but he held his ground. 'It's been so long… and the first thing you do is order me around?' His tone was one of mocking disappointment. 'That isn't the sort of thing a son should say to his father.'

The young male's eyes narrowed dangerously. Inappropriate as it was, Yori couldn't help but think that if looks could kill, then the scary one would be super super dead.

'And what grandfather would attempt to harm his descendants?' was the quick reply. The two men stared at each other for a few moments, the younger male glaring, the older, merely regarding.

And that was when Yori realized that they were hopelessly outmatched.

That the older man was stronger.

And that he could have killed the younger in an instant.

…So why hadn't he? What was happening? Were these people really related to him? Could his grandfather really be trying to hurt them? And his son – their father – be ready to fight him? Be ready to fight when he would surely lose…?

…Could Yori's father really be a kami?

Yukiko tugged frantically on his sleeve, silently begging him to run with her. But Yori couldn't, not yet.

'Who are you?' he asked. He had tried to make his voice sound demanding, but it came out small and timid. Yori felt his knees begin to shake as both males fixed their gaze upon him.

'Yori,' said the younger, the one who could have been his father, 'take Yukiko and run.' His gaze softened as he looked at them, eyes flickering between the twins with a strange sort of longing.

'Why should they?' the older asked, speaking to his son but still looking at the twins, fixing them in his icy gaze. 'I won't hurt them, Kohaku-kun.' His voice was like sugar-coated aloe, attempting to the bitterness beneath a river of sweet syrup.

Like the combination, it was sickening.

'_Don't lie_,' the one called Kohaku hissed, eyes flickering back to the older man, full of loathing. 'I know how your mind works. It's blacker than your river!' He looked back at Yori, eyes silently begging him to take his sister and go.

Yori knew that both men were potentially very dangerous. He knew that they could kill them if they wished, and the elder certainly seemed to. But his legs were locked in place, and despite the terrified half of his brain practically screaming for him to run away, Yori's curiosity was unquenchable.

'Just tell me who you are!' he demanded, his pretense at courage doing little to hide the shake in his voice. Yukiko gave a little squeak from behind him, dragging on his T-shirt in a silent please for him to move with her.

'Yori,' the younger man said, voice stern but gentle. A mist of power seemed to spread about him, commanding but nonthreatening. 'Yukiko... _Run_.'

And then Yori was running. Running so fast it was like flying again, but his feet still hit the earth and the tree twigs still stung at his skin. He didn't want to be running. Hadn't even been aware of it. But his legs were moving and he couldn't stop, couldn't even look behind him to were Yukiko followed, moving just as fast but far more willingly.

Trees blurred passed, too fast to make out, and the forest was thinning around them and he could see clear space up ahead and the sun was shining brightly down on him, unblocked by leaves, and then he was leaping across the wide wet stretch of a river, higher and further than should have been _possible_ and then—

The ground rushed up and his knees buckled under the impact and Yukiko crashed into his back and they fell, together, tumbling down in a tangle of arms and legs...

...right into the waiting arms of a young woman.

A young woman, who had Yukiko's hair and Yori's nose and was laughing and crying at the same time as she hugged them, crushed them in her arms and held them as if they were the most precious things in the world.

'I'm so glad you're ok!' she gasped, beaming down at them with a radiance that rivaled the sun's.

Yori merely stared.

* * *

They have officially met up! At last! ...And now goodbye. For a while. I mean, _a while_. I refuse to abandon this fic, so I will be back... but for now, it's goodbye.

-Selena Estella


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